Mac Server / Windows Server

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

I noticed under Network Share Server with the latest Firmware it offers both Mac Server and Windows Server options.  I’ve used the Windows Server successfully with my Mac (10.8.)5 in the past to load videos from my Mac to the USB HD attachd to the SMP.   I decided I’d try the Mac Server.  I can connect to the server and mount it in the Finder. I can browse  but when I drag things it refuses to transfer them.  So I turned it off and turned the Windows Server on and it’s working as before.  Pity as it seemed faster and I was hoping file transfer would be faster. 

Not a critical issue for me as I have the same functionality as before.  But I’m wondering if anyone is using the Mac Server with a Mac successfully ? 

Thanks - Michael

2

Also reported here in Issues 

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Issues/Mac-Share-Server-shared-disks-have-unknown-names/idi-p/638377

3

well just updated the firmware and was momentarily overjoyed to now see mac shares listed as well as windows… however it turns out I can’t access either mac on my networkby clicking mac shares  NOR can I access as I was using windows shares and samba via smbup. so now I’m screwed both ways…just get the little cycling circle endlessly Do I have to do something to enable the mac shares or is this just a useless update? and if it **bleep** how do I roll back to the previous firmware?

4

I was having the same issue, but worked out a way to get around it. I posted on another thread last night, but thought I might as well post here too.

Although it looks like there are a lot of steps below, it’s actually really simple and only takes a minute or so. 

Apparently Macs that use Lion and above aren’t compatible with the WDTV. But because Macs are based on Unix, you can use the NFS functionality on the mac to talk to the Linux functionality on the WDTV. I don’t know much about this stuff, but I kept checking help sites and trying different things. Here’s what I did:

1. First make sure the folder can be shared

• On your mac, choose the folder you want to access from your WDTV

• Select that folder and and in the menu bar go to File>Get Info

• In Get Info make sure the box that says ‘Shared Folder’ is ticked

2. Use TextEdit to write a single line of code

• Open TextEdit

• Write the file path to your folder, then a space, then the following text: -alldirs -ro

• For example, I’m sharing a folder called ‘Movies’ on my desktop, so the line of code looks like this:

   

    /Users/Simon/Desktop/Movies -alldirs -ro

• Save the file (in plain text format) on your desktop as ‘exports’

3. Remove the .txt file extension from the ‘exports’ file you just created

• In the Finder menu bar, go to Finder>Preferences and click the ‘Advanced’ tab

• Tick the box that says ‘Show all filename extensions’ (you can change it back later)

• The text file you just created will now be called ‘exports.txt’

• Select the file name and delete the extension, so it just says ‘exports’

4. Copy the ‘exports’ file to a mysterious folder called ‘/etc’

• In the Finder menu bar, go to Go>Go to Folder

• In the pop up type ‘/etc’ and hit Go

• Drag your ‘exports’ text file from the desktop into the ‘etc’ folder. You’ll probably be asked to enter your password.

5. Change one setting on your WDTV Live to enable Linux Share Support

• In your WDTV Live menu screen, go to Settings>Network Settings

• Scroll down until you get to ‘Linux Share (NFS) Support’ and make sure it says ‘On’

You’re done

To see your folder go to Select Content Source>Network Share>Linux Shares. It should then show you the IP address of your mac. Just select it and press the green tick and your folder should be right there.

I guess it’s not ideal, and WD should in their next update fix this issue, but in the meantime this method works well.

Cheers

Simon