So I have read dozens of tutorials on sites, watch tutorials on youtube. I still can’t get it to work. I can watch you tube, but that is about it. It connects to my network, when I click network shares nothing happens.
I have windows 7, 64 bit. My files are located on a simpletech external hard drive. The folder is called downloads and I made video, pictures and music folders inside. Every folder has been shared, by “everyone”.
It is possible to make a share in WIN7 64 bit ultimate (evaluation) but when you close the share for security reasons (it should be shared with the everyone user because else the subfolders from your shared folder will not be shared in WIN7 for some strange reason + and shared as everyone , YEP everyone can access your shared files) the WD TV HD will loose track of the shared folder so you will have to rename your machine and start from scratch with sharing the folder / drive.
So i gave up sharing in win7 and connected a usb harddrive instead (it must be formatted as a fat before the WD TV HD can see/use it)
So now I copy the mediafiles when the drive is connected to the computer disconnect and connect the drive to the WD TV HD and watch.
Hope that WD will release something like the Canon network scan utility why i can always see my shared network printer regardless how my network is configured.
You could configure your WIN7 machine as a media server(there is a tutorial somewhere in the WIN7 help system) but the drawback is that you only can use the predefined folders (maybe someone knows how to fix that i do not :)) ) and you have to copy your media files to the predefined folders for the medie server from where they are now.
Thanks for the help. I wonder what the time frame is on the software update to make this work. Looks like I should have bought a samsung bd3600 which is $220 and is somehow capable of usb streaming and is a bluray player. Good thing I kept my receipt!
Problem with Blueray players is that they normally do not support so many mediaformats, I could only play some Mpegs on my LG BD300. ( and no Netflix support on European firmware)
And even assuming they are necessary and work, seems your average person buying this won’t care to google and read forums and make registry changes just to get something that is supposed to be simple…working.
I’d love to see the return numbers on these devices right now
Make sure “Everyone” has all Permissions needed. Right click on your folder and choose properties. On the Sharing tab:
Click “Advanced Sharing”
Make sure “Share this folder” is checked.
Click “Permissions”
Highlight “Everyone”
Check all boxes for Allow
Full Control
Change
Read
The problem is not unique to the WDTV Live . Lots of devices have trouble accessing the windows 7 drives due to the changes in the way files are shared.
One step some are missing is :
Open network and sharing center
click change advanced sharing settings
Turn off password protected sharing
Access videos on WDTV Live leaving password/user blank, select ok.
You should not need passwords for sharing on the home network unless you have people living with you that you do not trust , then you have bigger problems than playing back video
It is better not to transcode media files by TVersity that WD TV Live itself is able to play. I could not get HD content (720p) working properly when it was transcoded by TVersity. It is working just fine now TVersity just streams the media files without transcoding.
My TV Live has been working for months and all of the sudden just quit. Started asking for user name and password. I did the registry fix and worked for me.