Is WD media player a dead product? If so, can some one recommend

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
21

The problem is that some people just use their WDTV Live to play local files and when the product cannot do that, it might as well be dead. The mp4 container is so common that you wonder how they tested the firmware before releasing it. In my case the unit became literally unusable because it would take a long time to navigate through the menu not to mention that it could not play most of my files. After rolling back and resetting many times, I now had the problem of needing to power cycle every time I have to use the device. If I don’t, I get the never ending spinning arrow. The other bug is the glitchy navigation.

You press the remote, many times nothing happens for many seconds, and you think that the command has not got through, you press again and the first command is processed and then the second and now you have to go back! I got so frustrated that I was in danger of smashing it against the wall one of those days. For its own and my own health I bought an Apple TV and semi retired it to the bedroom. My videos are nearly all formatted for ios devices and are already added to my iTunes library which was already running 24/7 ready to stream music to various AirPlay enabled devices in various rooms. I installed Plexconnect and Plex on the Apple TV takes care of all other codecs. When I bought the WDTV Live the idea was to stream my videos from My Book Live Duo without the need for thecomputer being on all the time but I realised soon that you need a server to organize the library.

I carefully rip my media and it is properly tagged and organised so that when I sit to listen to music or watch  movie I don’t have to wrestle with the media player. The WDTV Live fails in that regard. I have not completely gave up on it, I just hope a better firmware will come and it may regain its place in the living room! And another thing for music playback, DLNA is not good enough. Navigating by folder is not user friendly. The good thing about the WDTV Live streaming box is its support for many codecs, and containers. The bad thing is the software. You realise how bad it is if you use something else.

Oh another thing, the Apple TV is not for peope who are not invested in the ecosystem. If you order one without ios and itunes it might be wise to also order a hard helmet for the inevitable head banging against the wall! The only surround audio that it can pass through is Dolby Digital and that is a limitation that some balk at. The WDTV Live streaming with smooth navigation and if it loses the many bugs would make a perfect device and unfortunately it may never happen.

22

I’ve been reading firmware version 2.02.32 is bugged, therefore will not update to it. So my question is which version would be the better/more stable one?

23

I use 2.01.86 and works fine.

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/Where-can-I-download-OLD-FIRMWARE/td-p/780531/page/2

24

musimboti wrote:

You press the remote, many times nothing happens for many seconds, and you think that the command has not got through, you press again and the first command is processed and then the second and now you have to go back!

I’ve read about this every now and then but never seen this happen (nor anyone uploading a video of it). Some people suggested this would indicate network troubles but you are saying this happens on local playback too (once the media library has been compiled)?

MarekN87 wrote:

And you have the data?

Do you?

25

ncarver wrote:

Oh, but’s that right.  The complainers don’t even want to hear about any data points that disagree with their version of reality.  Same old, same old.  Ho hum.  Back to happily using our SMPs–just as we already have for hundreds of hours with the new firmware.

I don’t have any data, but ncarver brought it up, so you should ask him


26

MarekN87 wrote:

ncarver wrote:

Oh, but’s that right.  The complainers don’t even want to hear about any data points that disagree with their version of reality.  Same old, same old.  Ho hum.  Back to happily using our SMPs–just as we already have for hundreds of hours with the new firmware.

 
I don’t have any data, but ncarver brought it up, so you should ask him


 

The notion that I claimed to know the fraction of users having trouble with the new firmware is purely in your mind.  All I said was that the complainers are claiming that virtually all users are having so much trouble their devices are effectively unusable, but the evidence for this s extremely limited and unconvincing.  That you take this to mean that I am claiming that we know that most users are not having issues is an example of fallacious reasoning referred to as the fallacy of the excluded middle or the false dichotomy (or colloquially, black-and-white thinking).   There are actually at least three possibilities here: (1) we know the firmware is unusable for most users; (2) we know it works fine for most users; (3) we really have no idea how many users are having problems and how many are not.  Just becase I said that (1) is false absolutely does not imply that I believe (2) is true.  Unfortunately, your pattern of invalid thinking is all too common.

27

Techflaws wrote:

musimboti wrote:

You press the remote, many times nothing happens for many seconds, and you think that the command has not got through, you press again and the first command is processed and then the second and now you have to go back!

I’ve read about this every now and then but never seen this happen (nor anyone uploading a video of it). Some people suggested this would indicate network troubles but you are saying this happens on local playback too (once the media library has been compiled)?> * * *

We had this problem occur with the previous firmware (2.01.xx), but mainly only with one of our Live SMPs.  It seemed to happen after significant use of Netflix when trying to use Media Library with shares (the other unit was mainly used with shares).  I eventually rolled the firmware back (to 1.16.xx) on the “Netflix unit” because it got rather annoying.  No such problems with the 2.02.xx firmware, which is just one of the reasons I think it a big improvement.  Almost definitely not a network issue.  Looks just like computer behavior with a “runaway” process.

28

prankstare wrote:

I’ve been reading firmware version 2.02.32 is bugged, therefore will not update to it. So my question is which version would be the better/more stable one?

Certainly I find the 2.02.xx firmware a big improvement on our two boxes, but just as clearly, some people are having trouble with it.  What you will find about it probably depends on what you are trying to do with your WD units, your network, your servers, etc.  I had trouble with the 2.01.xx firmware on one of our boxes to the point that I rolled back to the 1.16.xx version.  Bottom line:  it is impossible to predict reliably what you might find.  The good news is that it is trivially easy to rollback firware to any version you want to try.  Certainly that is what I would have done if 2.02.xx didn’t work for me.  Takes only a few minutes of your time to do a rollback if you understand how.  Lots of postings on the forum explain the process.

Here is what I prefer about 2.02.xx:  (1) new interface allows you to customize immediate access to exactly what you want to use (including subdirectories of shares!), (2) browsing shares when using Media Library is fast because the unit draws the thumbs much faster.*

*The one exception we had was with TV show folders, but then I read a post by Joey Smith that correctly attributed this problem to the unit creating much larger thumbs for TV shows.  Sure enough, resized the TV show thumbs and that problem was gone.

29

ncarver wrote:

Techflaws wrote:

musimboti wrote:

You press the remote, many times nothing happens for many seconds, and you think that the command has not got through, you press again and the first command is processed and then the second and now you have to go back!

I’ve read about this every now and then but never seen this happen (nor anyone uploading a video of it). Some people suggested this would indicate network troubles but you are saying this happens on local playback too (once the media library has been compiled)?> * * *

We had this problem occur with the previous firmware (2.01.xx), but mainly only with one of our Live SMPs.  It seemed to happen after significant use of Netflix when trying to use Media Library with shares (the other unit was mainly used with shares).  I eventually rolled the firmware back (to 1.16.xx) on the “Netflix unit” because it got rather annoying.  No such problems with the 2.02.xx firmware, which is just one of the reasons I think it a big improvement.  Almost definitely not a network issue.  Looks just like computer behavior with a “runaway” process.

The command response on the remote is exactly my problem with the new firmware, since I don’t use any of the services I can’t confirm that if affects them or not. I only play videos from my portable (WD) HDD or a network share.

30

ncarver wrote:

MarekN87 wrote:

ncarver wrote:

Oh, but’s that right.  The complainers don’t even want to hear about any data points that disagree with their version of reality.  Same old, same old.  Ho hum.  Back to happily using our SMPs–just as we already have for hundreds of hours with the new firmware.

 
I don’t have any data, but ncarver brought it up, so you should ask him


 

The notion that I claimed to know the fraction of users having trouble with the new firmware is purely in your mind.  All I said was that the complainers are claiming that virtually all users are having so much trouble their devices are effectively unusable, but the evidence for this s extremely limited and unconvincing.  That you take this to mean that I am claiming that we know that most users are not having issues is an example of fallacious reasoning referred to as the fallacy of the excluded middle or the false dichotomy (or colloquially, black-and-white thinking).   There are actually at least three possibilities here: (1) we know the firmware is unusable for most users; (2) we know it works fine for most users; (3) we really have no idea how many users are having problems and how many are not.  Just becase I said that (1) is false absolutely does not imply that I believe (2) is true.  Unfortunately, your pattern of invalid thinking is all too common.

I am sorry, but the way you wrote it, you made it sound like you know which one of the 3 possibilities is the valid one. That’s all, I certainly don’t have (and can’t) have that info. I am also not saying that the firmware is unusable on all the devices, and as I wrote before, I believe there are a lot of users that don’t report any problems, even if they have any.

31

Honestly it sound like this is breaking down into arguing for argument’s sake and liguistic picking.

I don’t think anyone with any credibility is trying to say the firmware isn’t perfectly fine for many people.

But when you press them for details and ask if they are using the Apps or not (especially but not exclusively the Leanback App), then that’s where the qualifiers begin.

I get it.  If you’re just using the unit for playback of local files it WORKS just fine.  Well, minus some issues like it’s increased sensitivity to errors in MP4 files.  So lets qualify this.  If you have all clean standard video files, and all you do is play them off a local source (and I include a locally referenced network in this) you’re doing fine.  The firmware is glorious.

But this a consumer device.  Handed out with bundled functionality beyond playing local carefully maintained files. They give you these Apps, and I believe we are perfectly without our rights to expect we should be able to use them without having to reboot the device constantly to keep it working.  

Is it the end of the world to have to reboot the device several times per day (for me)?  No, not really.  Frankly the other issue, that even the “it works!” crowd must have (cleaning up all of their files) is more annoying (because more often than not frankly I’m just playing those files on a different device which won’t be totally tripped up by some simply problem in a file header or whatever it is actually is).

For me the tragedy isn’t what I have to do to maintain the device. If that was really the problem I would have long past rolled back the Firmware.  I just don’t like the sense that the device is now totally unsupported by the manufacturer, but that they won’t admit it.  It’s fine.  Consumer electronics age out of support.  But then give your buyers a newer better functioning option, and make sure they know with plenty of notice that the old one is now unsupported. 

32

ncarver wrote:

We had this problem occur with the previous firmware (2.01.xx), but mainly only with one of our Live SMPs.  It seemed to happen after significant use of Netflix when trying to use Media Library with shares (the other unit was mainly used with shares).

I had no issues on 2.02.32 watching Netflix and then playing back files from SMB shares (media library is turned off though).

MarekN87 wrote:
That’s all, I certainly don’t have (and can’t) have that info.  

Yeah, well but you made it sound like you did, at least to me.

WileyCoyote wrote:

But this a consumer device.  Handed out with bundled functionality beyond playing local carefully maintained files. They give you these Apps, and I believe we are perfectly without our rights to expect we should be able to use them without having to reboot the device constantly to keep it working.  

Which might as well be the case but still does in no way offers any insight at the true size of the problem.

33

“It seemed to happen after significant use of Netflix when trying to use Media Library with shares (the other unit was mainly used with shares).”

“I had no issues on 2.02.32 watching Netflix and then playing back files from SMB shares (media library is turned off though).”

There seems to be the big problem - media library is having problems.  And that’s my big loss, because that’s the only thing I really want from this device - the ability for it to remember where I left off in the movie, which seems to only be available if you use media library.

34

fred9999 wrote:> There seems to be the big problem - media library is having problems.  And that’s my big loss, because that’s the only thing I really want from this device - the ability for it to remember where I left off in the movie, which seems to only be available if you use media library.

That’s not true. I don’t use the Media Library at all, and the device always remembers where I left off and gives me the option to continue.

35

Yes you’re correct to a point.  It has a limited memory, by which I mean, it only remembers the last few.

My family and I have a number of movies and TV shows on the go at the same time, and if you don’t use media library, it won’t remember them all, and then it’s a pain to have to find where you left off.

Also, it won’t remember if you turn the device completely off (5 sec push off button).

36

In Australia our local ALDI chain had one for around AU$60. It read ok on the box, may have been Android based system, cant remember. I bought one, havent set it up yet (moving house), but FWIW I’ve never bought an ALDI product that didnt do exactly as they said it would. And honestly, how much worse could it possibly be than the WD one???

37

fatboydarky wrote:

how much worse could it possibly be than the WD one???

a lot  :wink:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2237819

38

MarekN87 wrote:

I use 2.01.86 and works fine.

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/Where-can-I-download-OLD-FIRMWARE/td-p/780531/page/2

Thank you guys for the reply. I just got this box, and I’m testing firmware versions like crazy here; so is 2.01.86 the “most stable” of all firmware releases so far you think? I’ve now decided to give the “faulty” 2.0.32 a try and it seems a tad faster-more responsive at the start but then it gets slower until it crashes on me. The only thing I didn’t like about the 2.01.86 is that for some reason audio sounds quite dull and compressed compared to the lastest firmware, at least using the analog output.

39

TonyPh12345 wrote:

habskilla wrote:

I have a Nexus player on order.  It’s due to arrive in 2 to weeks.  

Not even a comparison.  The Nexus Player doesn’t stream any local media (yet.)  

 

From what (little) I’ve been reading, the pared-down Play store at launch time didn’t have any apps that allow UPnP (DLNA) or Samba streaming – so you’re limited to video available in online stores (Vudu, NetFlix, Play Store, etc
)

 

Let us know how that goes for you, though!

 

The unit finally showed up late yesterday.  So I haven’t had a whole bunch of time to play with it.  

The first thing I did was see if it could play content from my NAS without using a DLNA server like PLEX.  Yes, with the help of an app.  I installed the Kodi (XBMC) apk and it worked FLAWLESSLY.  

No username/password issue.  

No not seeing my network share issue.  

No issues at all.  

In fact, I was blown away by the responsiveness of the Nexus Player.  Browse to a movie/TV show, press play and it instantly played.

I tried playing a movie by browsing to it via ES File Explorer but I needed a video player like vlc installed, but I couldn’t find any compatible players.  Given time, I expect to see a “vlc” type player that will allow native streaming.  But then again, after seeing how well Kodi played and performed, I’ll just stay with Kodi.

Are there issues?

Yes :slight_smile:

A big issue I’m having is I cannot save modified network settings.  I can add a static IP and US DNS IP, but it won’t save the values.  This means I can’t watch Netflix from other countries.

I’ve just scratched the surface of this thing and I’m very impressed.  I can’t wait to check out the games and emulators


And finally, have I said how fast and responsive this box is?  :)

40

Just watched all of this, and must say I was impressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0xHvjuDk68

dipster