No output at all -- can only be solved by unplugging power

[absinthe]

I have the 1st generation WD Media player – the WDAVN00, latest firmware (1.03).  I use the HDMI connection and attach a Passport drive to the USB connector.  It is a great unit except for one recurring problem.  Often, when turning the unit on, there is no output at all.  The TV just displays “no signal.”  I can turn the unit off and on several times and get no change.  The first time this happened, I thought the unit had died.  But then I tried unplugging the power supply, waiting a few seconds, and plugging it back in.  Ta-da!  It works.  

This started just a few months after I bought the unit and continues to the present.  It happens fairly often, and I sometimes have to do the unplug/replug thing more than once to get it working.  One thing I’ve noticed is that this seems to happen after I’ve disconnected the Passport drive, in order to put some media on it, and then reconnect the drive.  

It really drives me crazy because this is a terrific machine except for this one little flaw.  Sometimes I just know I’m going to have to spend 5 or 10 minutes standing in front of the TV playing with it before I can watch anything.

Do others have this problem?  Any idea what causes it or what could be done about it? 

Thanks, -abs

[DaHoffMan]

Yep, happens to me all the time.  I have the same hardware and firmware.  I can’t seem to see a pattern in what causes it either, and now have taken to manually shutting down my power bar every time I am finished watching TV (small pain).

[drifter511]

I am also having this problem with a gen 2 I bought last week. Connect to sony bravia with hdmi and nothing. After playing around, disconnecting hd, power cycle, sometimes it eventually displays an image and I can use the player.

The strange thing is that evberytime I turn it on I see the WD logo, then the screen goes blank. After fiddling with the hdmi cable for upto 20mins, I can usually get it working, suggesting it’s either a dodgy  unit or a dodgy cable. I figure that the cable is ok if I can see the logo everytime I turn it on though? Unless it’s something to do with the initial menu loading in 720p, and my unit being set to 1080p, and the cable/connection not being handled correctly.

I really don’t want to send it back because when it works it’s great, but I can’t be ars@d to fiddle with it for 20mins everytime I turn it on!

I’ve just ordered another cable to test. WD say something as you are really unhelpful!