DTS audio no longer works after upgrading to 1.03.49

Please help me!  I’ve owned this device since the day it launched in stores.  I’ve never had a problem playing any movies.  I have mainly .mkv files with DTS audio.  My Sony DA5300ES receiver decodes DTS.  I’ve watched hundreds of movies in this format using the WDTV live and never had a problem UNTIL TODAY.  I turned on my player to watch a movie with my family and I received the “new firmware available” message.  Like always, I accepted it , downloaded, installed, etc.  Now, no matter what MKV file I select, if it has DTS audio, it will not play.  Only dolby or 2 channel or AAC or mpeg audio will play.  I’ve tried resetting the WDTV, unplugging it, etc.  Nothing has changed with my hardware at all and I am an audiophile!  The new firmware has rendered anything with DTS audio useless.  In addition, I have to select “network” several times before it will actually connect to my network.  Then, after showing the devices on the network, I have to connect, back out, connect, back out, and then connect 3 or 4 times before it will actually connect to any network device.

None of these problems existed on the previous 102.21 firmware I was on forever.  Does anybody know what changed to cause these issues?  Is it possible for me to reflash my box back to 102.21 firmware?  If so, where can I find it?

Thank you!

At least on the Live +,  Same firmware, DTS worked for me on six out of six tries…   

Did you try a FACTORY RESTORE, or just a reset?

Found an archived version of 1.02.21.  reflashed my WDTV live back to the older version.  Presto!!  DTS works, network connects correctly.  Everything is perfect again.  It is unacceptable and very unfortunate that WD would release a firmware like they did when the very basic functions did not work properly.

Yes, I tried reflashing 3 times, factory reset multiple times, left unplugged for 20 minutes.  Nothing helped the DTS problem or the network login problems.  The second I reflashed back to 1.02.21, everything was perfect again.

I also had log in issues since i started updating to beta updates, but figured it was a trade off for other features and that is was not an official release. I just left my WD on all the time and that worked for my set up.

I was however hopeing that this update, being back to an official one for me, fixed that issue. Sounds like maybe not.

And the only the sound issue i have ever had with official or unofficioal update was with some .mkv files which i remuxed in about 3 mins.

So i dont think i can help. Not sure why i chimed in then really, sorry.

i have my audio settings set to stereo and mkv/mp4 videos with 5.1 dts audio play without problems.

must be a problem only for those whos setup involve a home theatre receiver/amp…

All I can say is that of all my test formats, they all worked correctly (even DTS-HD MA, which is downmixed to DTS 5.1).

They all work perfectly well for me on my Pioneer VSX-920 AVR:

Dolby Digital Plus (in M2TS): WORKS

Dolby Digital EX (in VOB): WORKS

Dolby True HD (in M2TS): WORKS

DTS ES PCM (in VOB) : WORKS

DTS (in VOB): WORKS

DTS 96/24 (in VOB): WORKS

DTS-MA (in M2TS): WORKS (DTS 5.1 Core only)

DTS (Vorbis):  WORKS

I am connected HDMI OUT to Pioneer, then HDMI Out to my TV.

All is well.

tbosa:  How are your devices connected?

Tony Propeller Head:

I have the WDTV live connected to my Sony DA5300ES receiver via HDMI cable.  Then the receiver connected to Sony Bravia 60" EX800 LED TV.  I have the WDTV Live set to output Digital Audio. DTS worked perfectly on 1.02.21.  Then nothing on the new firmware.  Once I rolled back to the previous firmware, everything worked perfectly again.

Same with the network issues.  All worked perfectly on 1.02.21, then glitched on new firmware.  Now everything is perfect again on old firmware.

I’ll just stick with this old version indefinitely.  There is nothing to gain from any new releases for what I use the box for.

Thanks for your replies though.

Hmmm.   I don’t know if this means anything or not, but the specifications for the DA5300ES says that you have to configure the receiver to indicate PCM or “AUTO” for DTS and Dolby.

SOMETIMES, the older versions of software would send PCM data instead of raw DTS.

Have you confirmed your Decoder is set to AUTO?

Yes, my decoder is always set to Auto in the menu settings.  But I did confirm it in case a power outage had caused it to change.  I also set the receiver’s sound output profile to auto, so it autodetects the actual signal and only plays the audio the way it was intended to be played.  Meaning, totally raw input and totally raw output.

The very bottom line of this whole situation is the fact that the older firmware works perfectly.  The minute I install the new firmware, DTS no longer works.  I switch back to the old firmware, and it works again.

Would you mind sharing where you found the old firmware?

Exact same issue here, except different receiver.  Tried the factory reset and every different configuration I could think of.  Pretty clearly caused by the 1.03.49 update if you ask me.

Usually, WD will include a link to a roll-back firmware on the update page… they don’t seem to have done so.

However, I still have the original zip and looked for that fileneame on the WDC download server:

http://download.wdc.com/wdtv/wdtvlive_1_02_21.zip

Note:  this will not overwrite your current firmware as-is.  

Extract the file to a flash drive.  

You must edit the VER file (using Notepad or similar text editor) to specify a higher VERSION than 1.03.49 (e.g. 1.03.50).

Hello,

i am a new User here, but i have my WD TV live for about 1 year now.

I just use an external drive with my WD TV Live, no interest into the Network stuff,

all i can say is, i upgraded to the new Firmware today, even with the fear

that DTS is not working. But hey everything works for me ok.

I have an Yamaha receiver, optical in from my WD TV, and DTS plays

fine. Now i dont  even have to setup my TV speakers to External

anymore because of the new “No Sound over HDMI”.

Its great.

The last thing i would do is convert great DTS sound into simple AC3,

DTS Sound is SO MUCH better with the right hardware (i.e. receiver, speakers)

Its like converting 1080p into 720p, …NO WAY!

I see there is also no 23.976Hz mode anymore, that was frightening,

but the Movies with this Mode playing so far ok with 24hz setup, no stuttering,

smooth scrolling ect.

so far i’m happy with the new Firmware!

R

Nedo

Nedo_ wrote:

The last thing i would do is convert great DTS sound into simple AC3,

DTS Sound is SO MUCH better with the right hardware (i.e. receiver, speakers)

Its like converting 1080p into 720p, …NO WAY! 

My AVR doesn’t support DTS, so I’ll take AC-3 5.1 over silence or stereo downmix.  ;)

The nice thing about Popcorn MKV Audio Converter is that it’ll mux the original DTS track into the new MKV along with the new AC-3 track.  When I get a new amp in future that supports DTS, my files are ready to go.  

Not that anyone was suggesting the OP convert his files in this thread…  :)

Ok, let’s get into more specifics here. For those with broken DTS that used to work, please tell us the FORMAT of the files you have tried. DVD ISO? MKV? MP4? M2TS? Do ANY of them work? It would also help if you post the text output of MEDIAINFO here, or even better, if you can use Handbrake to cut a small part of the file and post it to a file sharing service so some of us without problems can try it on our hardware… Sorry for the bad formatting, I’m using my iPad which doesn’t work well on this forum.

TonyPh12345 wrote:

All I can say is that of all my test formats, they all worked correctly (even DTS-HD MA, which is downmixed to DTS 5.1).

 

They all work perfectly well for me on my Pioneer VSX-920 AVR:

 

Tony -

Does the Pioneer you have decode HDMI Audio into the speakers?

DTS and AC3 are working fine here.  I have WD Live Plus with latest firmware 1.03.49.  Connected to Sherwood RD-8504 via HDMI (no optical cabling involved).  Sound via 5.1 speakers on Sherwood.  Sony Bravia TV connected to HDMI Out on Sherwood.

No problem whatsoever with DVD-ISO, MKV, different AVI’s, MP4’s

I wonder why DTS would fail on some systems.

PixelPower wrote:

 

My AVR doesn’t support DTS, so I’ll take AC-3 5.1 over silence or stereo downmix.  ;)

 

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

tbosa wrote:

Please help me!  I’ve owned this device since the day it launched in stores.  I’ve never had a problem playing any movies.  I have mainly .mkv files with DTS audio.  My Sony DA5300ES receiver decodes DTS.  I’ve watched hundreds of movies in this format using the WDTV live and never had a problem UNTIL TODAY.  I turned on my player to watch a movie with my family and I received the “new firmware available” message.  Like always, I accepted it , downloaded, installed, etc.  Now, no matter what MKV file I select, if it has DTS audio, it will not play.  Only dolby or 2 channel or AAC or mpeg audio will play.  I’ve tried resetting the WDTV, unplugging it, etc.  Nothing has changed with my hardware at all and I am an audiophile!  The new firmware has rendered anything with DTS audio useless.  In addition, I have to select “network” several times before it will actually connect to my network.  Then, after showing the devices on the network, I have to connect, back out, connect, back out, and then connect 3 or 4 times before it will actually connect to any network device.

 

None of these problems existed on the previous 102.21 firmware I was on forever.  Does anybody know what changed to cause these issues?  Is it possible for me to reflash my box back to 102.21 firmware?  If so, where can I find it?

 

Thank you!

Can you try one more thing…I understand you connect the unit to the receiver via HDMI.  Can you connect via Optical and see if DTS is working.

Nedo_ wrote:

Hello,

 

 But hey everything works for me ok.

I have an Yamaha receiver, optical in from my WD TV, and DTS plays

fine.  

Does your receiver support decoding Audio over HDMI into speakers?  If so, could you try and see if DTS and AC3 are working via HDMI not optical.