Hello all
I had a WD Live and loved it because it showed me all my movies, regardless of format (AVI, MPEG, VOB) in one convenient folder called - wait for it - Movies. Within that folder I had subfolders for each letter of the alphabet and within each of those would be a folder for each movie, eg, Alien in the A folder. All those movie folders showed a thumbnail image of the movie poster I had downloaded and copied to that folder, so I knew which movie it was. If it was a 2 disc DVD, within each movie folder I would have the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders for the movie itself and a third folder called Extras with VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders from the original 2nd disc that came with the movie when I bought it.
I hope that makes sense. I had full DVD menu navigation, life was sweet, I was a happy camper. I’ve always bought WD products.
So today I bought this WDTV Live Plus Hub thing. God, what a pain. No instructions and not even a good indication off where to go online for one. I figured out how to update the firmware though and am now on the most recent version. But otherwise, what should have been something very simple is now a pain in the **bleep**.
Here’s what happens now:
When I go to my Movies folder, I see my A, B, C folders as usual. Fine. I go into my A folder. The first thing I notice is that only half the thumbnails show up. Then I realise that the thumbnails are showing for the movies where the format is the regular AVI, MPEG files etc. These also have a little folder icon in the bottom left corner of each movie poster thumbnail.
Then I notice that all the folders of DVD’s (containing VOB files) are listed as movies and appear after all the others. So all the AVI movie folders are listed first and all the VOB folders are listed second. So I have to go looking for the movie. On top of that, none of the thumbnails show for those VOB folders and there’s a little movie icon in the bottom left corner.
So here’s the really jacked up part: I have the original VOB files for the movie Alien, for example. The original DVD was a two disc set, one for the movie itself and one for the extras. So in my Alien folder, I have a VIDEO_TS and an AUDIO_TS folder for the movie and an Extras folder with the corresponding original VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders from the DVD. On my old set up, if I wanted to watch the movie, I would go to the VIDEO_TS folder and choose a VOB file. If I wanted to see the Extras disc, I would go to the Extras folder and then the VIDEO_TS folder within it.
Now though, it doesn’t even recognise the Extras folder. When I go to the Alien folder, it just plays the movie. **bleep** annoying. If I want to watch the extras, I have to go all the way back to the dashboard, select files, navigate again to the Alien folder and choose Extras that way. But I can’t see the thumbnails, just a dreary list of folders.
What’s even more jacked up (and makes no sense to me) is that movies like Dances With Wolves and Titanic split the movie onto two discs and had a third disc for extras. So I had subfolders called Part 1, Part 2 and Extras, each with the corresponding VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders within them. When I go to the Titanic folder (through the usual Videos route) it shows the thumbnail, shows each folder and lets me watch whatever I want, just as the old WD TV did. What the **bleep**'s the difference???
So I thought I’d get smart and rename the folders within the Alien folder to Movie and Special Features (each with their own corresponding VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders within them) and guess what? Now the Alien folder doesn’t show at all unless I navigate through the Files option on the dashboard. The WDTV system ignores them completely otherwise. BUT, Titanic and Dances With Wolves still work just fine though. ??? The only difference is the folder names.
I hope this makes sense. It’s **bleep** frustrating. And I haven’t even tried to access the network yet and probably won’t for some time, for fear of losing even more hair.
What happened to “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “Keep It Simple, Stupid?”
Anyone know a solution? I just want to be able to navigate, through the Videos option on the dashboard, to a movie folder, see the thumbnail and be able to choose whether i want to watch the movie or the extras. Pretty straightforward, I thought…
