I have had nothing but annoying issues with the network shares. I am tired of screwing with this stupid piece of buggy ■■■■. I am going to just stop using it just to save my poor heart and wait for the PopBox which I hope will be supported by a group that actuallu gives a **bleep**.
Western Digital… I tried to be loyal and you proved how little you actually cared. Now I will return the favor by dropping your product like the turd that it is.
When you decide you want to actually try to fix the multitude of issues (quite a few of which are SERIOUSLY easy to fix) that are making the WDTV Live a pile of ■■■■, I MIGHT actually try to use it again. Untill then… all I can do is suggest that you stop hiring your support team from the half price bin at the dollar store…
This is a user to user help forum, and complaining here about something you’re going to return doesn’t do any good. I wish you the best of luck with your new hardware (if my 50+ years of experience tell me anything, it’s that you will find similar problems with it – nothing is perfect).
But hopefully you will be as happy with your new device as I am with my two (and counting) Live units.
I have had nothing but annoying issues with the network shares. I am tired of screwing with this stupid piece of buggy ■■■■. I am going to just stop using it just to save my poor heart and wait for the PopBox which I hope will be supported by a group that actuallu gives a **bleep**.
Western Digital… I tried to be loyal and you proved how little you actually cared. Now I will return the favor by dropping your product like the turd that it is.
When you decide you want to actually try to fix the multitude of issues (quite a few of which are SERIOUSLY easy to fix) that are making the WDTV Live a pile of ■■■■, I MIGHT actually try to use it again. Untill then… all I can do is suggest that you stop hiring your support team from the half price bin at the dollar store…
Gosh I do hope that makes you feel better. You do seem to be fixated by faeces.
Please understand that particular rant came after about 2 hours of messing with what had previously been a working network share. For some odd reason it just decided, as it seemes to do sometimes, it didn’t want to work. No changes had been made, nothing was different. Interestingly enough, about 15 minutes after my post, it started working. I didn’t do anything… it just worked. This seemes to be pretty typical as far as networking goes from what I can tell. And yes, it did make me feel a bit better, thanks for asking!
But there are things you can do to fix this kinds of issues, which as I said, you will have with ANY device.
You should have been around the Apple forums when the iPod was first released – you’d think it was the worst piece of ■■■■ ever! No one could get it to work with Windows, and no one at Apple had a clue. We spent months and months trying to help literally tens of thousands of Windows users get the thing working for them. And Apple is about a thousand times larger than WD in terms of support!
In the end the iPod was made ■■■■■-proof, but we’re not there yet with media servers (and we may never be – we didn’t get there with VCRs, as my mom still can’t program one to save her life. The DVR was the answer to that and it may be that media serving hardware will also be bypassed in a similar manner). And it’s no crime to be someone who needs a device to be ■■■■■ proof – but it does kind of brand you a certain way when you admit it on a forum like this.
If you want to get the Live working solidly for you it’s more than possible – Rich and myself (to name just two) are examples of that. All you have to do is ask for help. As I said, ranting doesn’t do much good (other than, as you noted, making you feel better – but it also makes a lot of us think a lot less of you, lumping you in with users like my mom).
First off, not every post is a question. Sometimes it’s a suggestion or even a comment. Mine was a bit of a rant, but a valid comment none the less. I have owned the WD TV Live for about 5 months now so I can’t take it back. I also own a WD TV that works fairly well for what it is. In most cases the WD TV Live works great, as long as you don’t plan on using networking exclusively. Networking was the whole reason for the purchase of a second player and the implementation is *begin sarcasm* less than perfect… *end sarcasm* To begin with, how do you release a product at about the same time as a new version of Microsoft Windows and NOT make it 100% compatible? Then, how do you leave out something as GLARINGLY obvious as a way to change the workgroup name. I won’t even go into the thumbnail and file type listings though the network share… it’s a mess! I know they have fixed some of the issues, but two months for YouTube fixes? Really!?! You couldn’t find anything more important to work on!!! I have dealt with the same on again off again network issues since I got the WD TV Live. I am tired of the frustration. Last night was just the last straw.
And just so you know… I will complain all I want on here, if for no other reasons than to let people know what they are getting into before they buy it AND maybe get WD to do something to FIX my crippled piece of hardware. So go ahead with your smarmy attitude if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. I’ll just keep on saying what I want.
Bruce “It’s my post, I can rant if I want to” Arnold
Hmmm – smarmy attitude? Just pointing out the obvious to you? I fail to see how that’s smarmy, but perhaps you are using a different dictionary than I am.
In any case, I will also continue to point out your errors for the same reasons you bring them up – namely, it is quite possible to get the Live to work great, with networking (as both Rich and I are doing) and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist (it DOES, however, take someone willing to work through the complexities that is a computer – and anyone who’s ever used ANY Windows computer knows how complex those issues are. They are by no means unique to the Live).
It’s certainly not for everyone – and I continue to warn people myself of that fact (I wouldn’t recommend one to my mom, for example, and if you had posted here before you bought one I’d have warned you off myself. And I mean that in the nicest possible way, truly).
You would have warned me off? Why? Because I am such a network moron?
Just so you know, I have worked in the computer tech industry for about 20 years. In that time I worked in the MIS dept. for a fortune 500 company, was the supervisor at a million dollar a year repair depot, and ran cable for a network infrastructure comapny.
Somehow I think the WD TV Live and Windows 7 shouldn’t be too hard… and yet, it is. Just because you and some others have managed to hit that elusive “sweet spot” doesn’t mean the rest of us are drooling idiots.
I personally fail to see how assuming I’m technologically challenged is pointing out the obvious but perhaps you are just a SMARMY (smug, if you need the help) person by nature or maybe it just comes out when you feel the need to act superior to others. I resent the idea that you assume I MUST be an ■■■■■ if I can’t get it to work.
I believe that one of the problems with getting the WD TV Live fixed is people like you acting as if there is nothing wrong with it just because IDIOTS can’t make it work. It shouldn’t be that hard. My droid can browse files (and even open some of them) on my system via the network quite easily. It took 20-25 minutes to setup and half of that was spent getting root access to my droid. I assume WD should be able to figure it out…
I would have warned you off of it because your expectations were unrealistic (at least for these types of units). Nothing to do with you being an ■■■■■ (now, you MIGHT be because you sure come off like one, but I don’t know you personally and when you aren’t smarting off on forums like this you might be a real decent guy).
As I was trying to say (but perhaps I didn’t make it clear) these devices aren’t yet so simple to use that time and effort isn’t needed to make them work. If you had expressed those concerns to me (that you were hoping it was a “plug and play” sort of situation) I would have definitely advised against it, like I’d advise anyone who feels that way against it.
In actual point of fact I don’t necessarily disagree that the use of these (or any other sort of hardware media players) shouldn’t be this complicated. But they aren’t so terrible that many can’t get them working, as many of us have. And we can get a lot of folks working regardless of how great or not so great their technical skills are as long as they have the patience to work through those issues. You obviously don’t – that’s NOT a slam on you, or in any way a judgement on how competent you are otherwise. My wife is a former network tech and she’s VERY competent, but she has absolutely no patience when it comes to such things at home. I still love (and respect) her greatly.
So – I will continue to argue with you (as long as you want) that the Live does not work properly – but I won’t disagree that it isn’t for everyone (and certainly doesn’t seem right for you). You just need not to take that so personally.
You would have warned me off? Why? Because I am such a network moron?
Just so you know, I have worked in the computer tech industry for about 20 years. In that time I worked in the MIS dept. for a fortune 500 company, was the supervisor at a million dollar a year repair depot, and ran cable for a network infrastructure comapny.
Bruce
Well I hope that you never vented your rage like you did in your first post when you came across a problem in your work. Did the fortune 500 company and million dollar a year repair depot put up with that sort of thing?
We are users just like you and should not have to put up with your foul mouth just because you can’t get something working. If you have a problem with WD take it up with them directly however if you are not too ‘up yourself’ to ask for help then stay on and tell us your problem.
mkelley & richuk they are definetly stock share holders of WD… as they defend the LIve with all their “desperate” power ;)
You, like me and many others, have the right to be mad and hungry and express your disappintment on this or any other forms. Just remember to be polite !
I’m since 15 years a Software developer. And even if is not my main area of expertise, I’ve allways been capable of solvig network related issues.
I have head the same proplems you have. New firmware mess all up. what worked before, just wont work anymore: see thumbnails… and in my case all mkv are unplayable. Aftre trying everithing I could, I went back to the old firmware where network connectivity is very buggy but at least I can watch movies again.
To make a new update incompatible with previous fitures is just redicolus ! Means bad professionality in the firmware developement.
Now I’m afraid about future updates. If they wont solve this problems I might not be able to upgrade anymore.
mkelley & richuk they are definetly stock share holders of WD… as they defend the LIve with all their “desperate” power ;)
I don’t own any stock and I only have the WDTV and an old WD USB hard disk. The difference between you and me is that my WDTV Live works OK. Its not perfect but its what I expected for the money. If you read my posts you will see that I am also critical of WD and their lack of even basic support. You may not have succeeded in getting your unit working but a number of others have due to the help offered on this board by fellow users. How exactly does ranting and complaining all the time help the situation - the only people listening are fellow users.
If your problems are not solved by the community simply put the unit to one side or contact WD directly and get it fixed / replaced.
