I am experiencing a problem when playing avi files (movies) using my WD TV Mini Media Player. I have two avi files (movies) that restart themselves at a set point each time and won’t run all the way through to the final credits. I can play these same movies on my laptop using VLC media player without any problem and they play all the way through to the credits. I have other avi files (movies) that play all the way through using my WD TV Mini Media Player.
I have upgraded the firmware to 1.00.60.
Is there anyone out there that is experiencing the same problem ?
Is there a setting somewhere that needs changing or is there a problem with the WD TV Mini Media player ?
If it was an encoding error would’nt the same avi file restart when playing on my laptop ? It plays fine on my mac, xp laptop and Fujitsu Desktop, which makes me think the problem lies with the WD HD TV Mini.
No, not really. VLC (and other computer players) are much better at playing around errors, than hardware solutions.
I’ve encountered many poorly encoded files that will play perfectly on VLC, and won’t even play right using other player software on the same PC, let alone on other devices.
There’s all kinds of “bad” files that VLC will bash its way through. The fact they play doesn’t mean they aren’t bad.
But, whatever settings (and encoder) you used to make the .avi files you’re not having problems with, you should just keep using those settings because you know they work with your Mini.
I guess my only comment would be that if VLC can produce robust software that can bash it’s way through bad avi files and produce a solution, why can’t WD for the WD TV ?
Well, my guess is that the fact that VideoLAN has been at it since 1998 or 1999 might have something to do with it.
And they do advertise:
“It plays everything!”
The media player that fulfills all your needs. It handles DVDs, (S)VCDs, Audio CDs, web streams, TV cards and much more.
With VLC, there is no need to continually update many different codec packs. VLC comes with nearly every codec built in!
And whats more, VLC can play back your files, even if the media is damaged! Missing or broken pieces wont stop VLC. All the video and audio information that remains can be played.
(italics added for emphasis)
I’m doubting that functionality was available in the first releases of VLC either.
Perhaps Western Digital wasn’t as interested in developing something to fix broken media streams, but was only concerned with playing valid files?
i have the same problem with my mini wd player but how do i fix it ,do i have to re convert the files so they play ,i find the only ones i have trouble with are files over 1 gig in size .
can any one help with this ,i have asked customer support and they just keep sending me links to a f.a.q page which is a pain in the arse as have the stuff they talk about i do not understand ,so if anyone can put it basic terms would be good
I am also not happy with the player, it definately will not play avi files of more than 1 gig without stopping near the end of the file, I have avi files which ‘timewise’ run for over 2 hours and they stop at 1h 55 min every time. There is nothing wrong with the file, if I burn to dvd it plays completely on any dvd player and on any player on my pc. so the problem definately is with the media player. I also find some avi files stop after a few minutes and agin these files play on a disc on any dvd player.
I did convert these files, even though identified as avi files when I converted them to avi, sorry if that sounds silly, with avi recomp then they play on the media player without crashing. However, there is NO WAY that any avi files bigger than 1 gig play till the end on the media player no matter what I do with them.
I want an HD media player but won’t buy a WD one as this is not acceptable, am going to try a Cyclone.
