MKV file won't play via USB external HDD but will play via MAC Share

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

Not sure why this is happening all of a sudden. The player would never have any issues what so ever playing files but now it does.

How I used to play files

Using a Seagate GoFlex NAS via ethernet to router to WDTV - no issues

My NAS dies and I’m currently saving up for a much better Synology NAS so in the meantime I bought a 1TB WD external USB 3.0 to use as my storage location.

I connect via USB and got o local media and it sees all the files but for some reason it says file format not supported(drive is formatted NTFS).

I then disconnect the drive and connect via MAC Share to my desktop and I can play the exact same file just fine over the network.

The WDTV is on FW 2.02.32 so not sure if that is my issue.

Can anyone explain why I’m suddenly having these problems?

2

Hello, the file format not supported is because of the type of files that you have on the external. I know you are trying to play videos that you where able to play before, for this reason I would like to ask you a few questions.

  • What type of files are you using? Ex: .MKV, .MP4 .AVI
  • How were you accessing the files from the NAS, media server or network share?
3

The files trying to play are .MKV files. I used to access via a Windows share from a NAS and everything worked perfect.

When I started using an external HDD connected to the WDTV via USB is when the same .MKV files would give errors

4

Connect the drive to the computer again, enable “Show hidden files and folder” and see if you have a .wdtv folder, in the root of the drive, if you do, delete it and try connecting the drive to the media player again.

5

Tried that, file still won’t play off the external HDD. I can stream it just fine, just won’t work off external and not sure why.

6

Try restarting the WD TV through the setup menu. I have found that if you are using a USB device that does not have its own power supply that the WD TV starts to act funny because it will overheat. The USB device such as a stick or a 2.5 inch hard drive, adds too much power to the WD TV power draw and creates too much heat.

7

I am getting the same problem. All of a sudden I cant play MKV’s off a USB stick. When the file is copied to the hard drive from another hard drive it plays. Seems like MKV’s have to play of a drive native to the player.