Please, let´s the WDTV connect to Windows Shares without any problem

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

 Dear WDTV Support Team ,

I am having lot of troubles with my WD live detecting my Windows shares.

I have a WD Media Streaming and that one does not have any problem connecting to my Win 7 x64 password protected folders. I am a developer and I have a little company of IT, where we give support in networking and servers to companies. I said this because I have experience in networking. I don´t know what to do with the WD Live. I tried everything that is posted in this forum and that is why I am posting a new thread.

I have turned off all my PCs in order to get to Windows Live Asisstant or any other software that can be making some “noise” between my server and the WDTV. I have also made some tweaks in my Windows 7 registry, disable the firewall, create a new user, delete the login info of the WDTV, and it just sees one of my Win 7 PCs, then it sees some virtual machines, then they disappear… I mean, it is very frustrating. It would be awsome if there will be a way to specify the IP address of the windows share servers. In that way we would be able to connect with any problem.

The WDTV Live has the latest firmware and is in the same network and connect with the same server by a wired than the WDTV Streaming Media.

One month early, the WDTV Live have been connected to the server, but then it started not to see it in the Windows Share list. As I have said, it just see one server (that has files, but not those one I need to play in the WDTV). The WDTV Streaming Media sees both server in the list.

Please WD Support, tell me how can I solve this in a definitive way.

Sincerely yours,

Ignacio.

2

you may have already checked this

but make sure the WD is listed in the same workgroup

besides that the next most common problem is master browser

in some set ups for whatever reason the WD ends up as master browser and unable to find the shares

your PC which is sharing out the media should be the master browser

3

Thank you very much for your post KAD.

Yes, all the devivces are in the same workgroup.

About the master browser, I have checked it. I will do it again, but the stransge thing is that my WDTV Streaming Media Player is working nice in the same network. I mean, it can see al the shares.

I am still thinking that there is only one solution to this issue: the option to input the IP address of the server of the Windows share. I am sure this will be very useful for lot of WDTV users.

Thank you very much in advanced,

Ignacio.

4

See this link, and just read the first post and follow the instructions:

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Discussions/How-to-resolve-Network-shares-access-problems/m-p/551112#M19218

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Dear Mike,

Thank you for your reply.

I will try what you suggest, buyt let me tell you that I have recently discover that the WDTV Streaming Media is the Master Browser of my workgroup when it is on. I really don´t know how the election works, because I have two Win 7 servers that are on all day. Why it is getting the master browser? Do you know how I can make it not to be promoted as the Master Browser?

Thank you in advanced,

Ignacio.

6

OK, turn off the whole network  – everything that is part of it.

Afterwards, bring up the modem and then the router.  Then the PC – the main one.  Now, run the program from this site:

http://scottiestech.info/2009/02/14/how-to-determine-the-master-browser-in-a-windows-workgroup/ 

It may not indicate anything for a while until things settle in.

Be sure the program tells you your main PC is master browser.  Now, turn on WD unit.  Everything still OK?

Now, turn on second PC.  Everything still OK.?  Turn on the rest of the network components.

If things eventually change AND you have not turned off anything – well, there is something else going on with conflicts, etc.  Let us know.

7

Mike, thank you for your reply.

I was getting into the forum to post how I have solved the problem and I saw your post.

What you said is similar than what I have done.

First of all, I want to thank ScottiesTech for the useful information and the tool they have done in Phyton.

The other thing I want to say is that I am very, I mean, VERY, dissapointed with WD. I thought that I will get some help from WD in order to solve the problem accessing Windows Share. That is, one of the more interesting functionality of the device they sell as a network media player. What I have found is nothing. Just users that are very good people that want to help others.

I have received an email from WD telling me that a person from support will be in contact with me. Nobody called me.

So, I want to state that I will be doing the next detailed explanation not from Western Digital that they are not warned by a user that is having a problem and spending lot of time to solve an issue that is declared as conflitive since lot of posts in the past, instead, I will post the solution for other users that are having the same problem than me, and I just want to help them.

Also, I want to say again that it would be very nice that WD let us type the IP ADDRESS of the servers, in order not to rely on the NetBIOS discovery protocol. Please , consider this alternative in future firmware´s releases.

So, the problem was, primarly, that the WDTV Streaming Media were elected as Master Browser of the network. You may be asking why, OK, I am asking myself the same thing.

As I have said, in my network there are 2 Win 7 servers with multimedia. They are on all the day. So, I cannot explain why the WDTV Streaming Media were elected as Masters Browser, because it was on just 3 to 6 hours per week.

First of all, I have ran the ScottiesTech tool to detect which device was the Master Browser. There was when I realised that the WDTV Streaming was the Master Browser. In that moment, I turned off the network share of the WDTV Streaming Media and the WDTV Live devices. Then, I have disabled the Computer Browser service in the Windows XP and Windows 7 hosts (except on the two Win 7 servers) in order that the hosts are not proposed as master browser. You can do that in Run, typing services.msc.

Then I have turned off all the PCs of the network and start just the two servers. In one of them I have change the workgroup´s name, restart, change back the workgroup´s name and restart again. Finally, I have turned on all the hosts and when I scan the network I have one of the servers as the Master Browser. Voila! Now, both WDTVs “discover” both Win 7 servers in no more than 30 seconds.

Sincerely yours,

Ignacio.

8

@ ignacio200

Glad you found my comments helpful. and glad you got things working right.  As you know, this is a user-to-user forum, although, from time to time WD support people cruise in and out of here.  So, it can be hit or miss to get help from support in a timely manner from this forum.  So, to you and others reading this, I strongly suggest someone also put in a support ticket for help if they did not get a quick resolution from the users.  Many issues raised here are easy fixes, but some are better asked to the support group.

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ignacio200 wrote: 

I have a WD Media Streaming.

Which means you posted in the wrong forum, maybe a mod can move it.

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Dear TechFlaws,

Please, note that I have 2 WDTV.

1 x WDTV Media Streaming

and

1 x WDTV Live.

If a mod wants to move this to another forum, I have no problem.

Sincerely yours,

Ignacio.

11

Thank you for your message Mike!