Keep losing Ethernet IP address on home network

Community Archives WD TV Live Networking
1

Does anyone have suggestions as to why my HD TV LIve + keeps losing it’s IP address on my home network? I have it directly attached to my home router over an Ethernet cable, and have been able to get it successfully working on the network such that my Windows 7 home PCs can see it on the network and transfer files to the USB drive attached to the TV Live + unit.

Unfortunately, every so often the TV Live + network share disappears and the Network Check I run on the unit says it has no IP address. Sometimes it can recover it’s IP address if I reboot the router and the TV Live +, but sometimes this doesn’t seem to work and the unit just goes without any network connectivity for long periods of time. Right now, for example, I can’t get the WD TV Live to get an IP address no matter what I try. I’ve even used a paper-clip to reset the TV Live +. I have run the option to have it automatically configure itself on the network but that just fails too.

The home router is clearly working ok since all my Windows 7 PCs access it just fine, and get IP addresses assigned to them via DHCP.

Does anyone have suggestions about something else I should try?

2

Sounds like the network connection is flaky.   Try a different cable.

3

I have found a work-around.  I have manually configured the IP address, netmast, gateway, and DNS, and that seems to have fixed the problem. Something seems flaky with how the WD TV Live+ works with DHCP. I don’t think my router is defective since none of the PCs or other devices on my home networks have issues with automatic configuration.

4

This is an issue with your PC or network cabling rather than the device. Sadly this will be very difficult to diagnose as everyone’s set up is different. I used to have a NAS from a different company than I now have and that regularly disappeared as well. The company said it was linked to my virus checker and the problem was never solved.

5

Have you tried re-setting your router?  I had a similar problem with four live boxes losing connectivity and even though my 2 PCs on the same router had access the lives would come and go.  A reset of my router and subsequent upgrade of the router’s firmware fixed the issue.  My problems were self imposed as I was attempting to run some port forwarding for my server and somehow messed up my router.  Still don’t know exactly what happened, but the hard reset fixed the issue.

6

I agree that the cable may be flakey. I would start there. Also what is your DHCP Lease Time set to on your router? If the lease expires and it can’t find it at the moment it may cause problems when you turn it on. I’ve had a few issues with my router holding the IP address but not wanting to give it up to the WDTV for some reason. When I reset the router or manually set the IP address on the WDTV it connected just fine right away.

It seems to me that some routers just have issues with the WDTV Live (or the reverse). I have seen this type of behavior from some older crappy NIC’s and some cheap wireless USB dongles.

Bruce " I got nuthin’…" Arnold

7

I don’t think the problem is the router. I had this problem with a dlink and recently just had a “Verizon” branded router installed when I changed my internet connection to FIOS (i.e. I cancelled my cable). So, changing the router didn’t have any impact. I have changed the ethernet cables to and that hasn’t changed matters either.

Still, I am not really trying to solve this problem anymore. Now that I have hard coded my IP address into the WDTV Live+ I don’t have the flakiness of the losing the IP address anymore.

That said, I still have the problem where connections to the WDTV Live+ share intermittently fail. Any massive transfer of data taking an hour or more will fail sometime mid-stream, and I have to re-fresh the mapped drive connection on my Windows PCs. Maybe this is all related, and that the network stack on the WDTV Live+ is just flaky.

8

I’ve heard that the new beta firmware solves the issue of shares disappearing but I have yet to test it myself. However it sounds like you are having other issues. Did you ever replace the ethernet cable for your WDTV or did you replace another? Is it possible another might be the issue?

Bruce “Droid Does” Arnold

9

I don’t even get that far.

I’m using a D-Link 825 Extreme N dual band router. Works great on my LAN.

So it’s all wireless, except my main desktop in my office.

I bought a DWA-160 USB dongle for the WD way back when, couldn’t get it to work then.

Emailed tech help. They told me the DWA-160 wasn’t’ compatible with the WD Live.

Just upgraded the firmware and guess what?

Now it is compatible! It’s on the list!

Got my hopes up.:smiley:

Went into the 825’s setup page and added both the WD and the DWA-160 IP addresses to the reserved list in the DHCP list of the router, along with their MAC addresses for Mac filtering (I use this on everything in my network.)

Weird thing though.

If I plug a regular USB flash drive into the WD, (as in updating the firmware, which I just did)), my hard drive that’s permanently attached to one of the two USB plugs on the WD, shows up fine with all my movies on it.

As soon as I unplug the flash drive (or plug in the DWA 160), it no longer recognizes my HD at all.

Back to the main problem.

I entered the IP address and other parameters at least 6 times on the WD’s network menu interface,and clicked “Finish”.

It all promptly disappears, and I have to do it all over again. Tedious!!!  What’s that all about?

Obviously I can’t get connected to my network at all.

The plan is to use the 5 Mghz band for video streaming, if I can get that far.

As a side note, should I be entering the WD’s own parameters, or the DWA-160 USB dongle’s parameters on the TV screen?

I’ve tried both!

Neither is working for me, but I’d like to know for sure, if someone out there knows.

Also, I have my router set up for DNS forwarding, so should I be entering my router’s IP address where the TV onscreen setup asks for the DNS?

10

lilleyen wrote:

 

Went into the 825’s setup page and added both the WD and the DWA-160 IP addresses to the reserved list in the DHCP list of the router, along with their MAC addresses for Mac filtering (I use this on everything in my network.)

 

… 

As a side note, should I be entering the WD’s own parameters, or the DWA-160 USB dongle’s parameters on the TV screen?

I’ve tried both!

Neither is working for me, but I’d like to know for sure, if someone out there knows.

 

 

I am not understand what you’re asking.  What do you mean “The WD’s Own Parameters?”

 

 

 

Also, I have my router set up for DNS forwarding, so should I be entering my router’s IP address where the TV onscreen setup asks for the DNS?

If you’re using DHCP, you shouldn’t need to enter ANYTHING.

11

Thanks Tony Dumb question!

 I thought that because the WD had a mac address it would need an IP address too, so I set one up on my router. Not needed eh?

Noticed another thing, my WDA160 USB wirelss dongle lights up when plugged into my main computers USB plug, but it does not when plugged into my WD.

No signs of life at all.

12

Hmmm…   

So, you DO get a Wireless Configuration Menu under network settings?  If not, then the device is NOT supported by the WDTV.  

13

No, I only get the wired menu, but the wda 160 dongle IS on the list of supported items now. That’s my problem, it should work now

14

No, not all 160s work.

The TESTED version of the 160s had NO REVISION NUMBER.

Other people have reported some that do work, and others that do not, due possibly to D-LINK changing the chipset used inside the adapter.

The short, and frustrating answer is that, if your WDTV doesn’t recognize the adapter, it ain’t gonna work.

15

Thanks Tony. Maybe next firmware update The reason I picked the 160 was so I Could use the 5 mhgz band for streaming movies

16

Before giving up on your adaptor try the following. Its sometimes needed after a firmware update.

reset via the side paperclip button

reset to factory defaults via the internal menu.

unplug the unit from power for some minutes (not seconds)

do all 3 before using the unit.

Plug in your USB adaptor and see if it is now recognised.

You never know you may be lucky.

17

Did that.

No luck

Thanks for your help

18

Contacted WD.

They concur.

Some of the same 160 units work and sme don’t.

Mine is rev A1

The one tested and working had no rev number.

Oh Well…