Question Before Purchase

[slim7]

Well i have been reading up on this through forums and watching youtube vids and it looks like this is the thing i need. Seems im just late to the whole thing.

Few things i wanted to ask before i purchase, i know u can hack the other models, i know the hub is not quite able to do that yet, but i did notice the covers for movies and meta data and such for movies, does this device just do this standard, or does it just pic up the usualy moviename.jpg and so on within folder and just display on the hub?

Also, does this device have the same issues like the older ones with high end MKV’s playing over a media share ? I know i have read the other models have had a few issues with them streaming, but saving them to the internal, or external drive they work fine ?

and last of all, can u copy files from the media server straight to the internal at all ? I read through a few posts u can from another usb, or i possibly from a computer connected, but i didnt see anything about from a media server ?

Any help would be great, i think these last 3 points, depending on the outcome of answers, will depend if i buy this in the next few days. Thanks in advance

SLim

[TonyPh12345]

slim7 wrote:

Well i have been reading up on this through forums and watching youtube vids and it looks like this is the thing i need. Seems im just late to the whole thing.

 

Few things i wanted to ask before i purchase, i know u can hack the other models, i know the hub is not quite able to do that yet, but i did notice the covers for movies and meta data and such for movies, does this device just do this standard, or does it just pic up the usualy moviename.jpg and so on within folder and just display on the hub?

 

Also, does this device have the same issues like the older ones with high end MKV’s playing over a media share ? I know i have read the other models have had a few issues with them streaming, but saving them to the internal, or external drive they work fine ?

 

and last of all, can u copy files from the media server straight to the internal at all ? I read through a few posts u can from another usb, or i possibly from a computer connected, but i didnt see anything about from a media server ?

 

Any help would be great, i think these last 3 points, depending on the outcome of answers, will depend if i buy this in the next few days. Thanks in advance

 

 

SLim

Covers and Meta Data are a standard feature.   The Movie Data is fetchable from the internet, or you can modify it yourself via XML data.

No, I don’t believe you can copy from a DLNA Media Server;  I don’t think the protocol allows for that.

I’ve never run into streaming MKVs on ANY of the LIve products.

[slim7]

Thanks Tony. Is the covers and so on something that the device just does on its own ? Or do u need to go through things to make it happen ? Does it still pull covers and info for media server hosted files or only local stuff ?

[TonyPh12345]

For COVERS and METADATA, you can either provide your OWN Files (moviename.jpg and moviename.xml)  or MANUALLY (for each movie) have the Hub fetch the data from online.

I’m not sure what it does for Media-Server hosted files.

But it pulls Covers and Metadata for NAS or LOCAL storage.

[slim7]

sounds good. thanks for that. Do you know if its possible to connect to the device via ftp ?

[TonyPh12345]

No, it’s not possible to connect via FTP.

[RolandCT]

I’m also  looking to order one today and was wondering if there is a way to connect to the device remotely to transfer files?  Or from the device conect to a source on the Internet? Not to watch them, but to remotely add files to the internal or extermal even if it required setting up port forwarding on my firewall.  I see FTP isn’t an option, but is there anything else available?

Thanks!

[slim7]

good question, is that possible ?

[jimpreis]

You need to define remotely…

• Different node?

• Different subnet?

• Different building?

• Behind a firewall?

I’m just assuming the generic, “Can I get to this device from outside my house?”  The answer is yes.  At a VERY high level, the steps would be…

• Manually set the IP address for the unit

• Configure a port on your router to send specific requests to this device

• Configure a Dynamic DNS account for the device

I’d also read up on Twonky (the server/comm stack product that comes with WDTVLH).

Cheers.

Jim

[jimpreis]

Slim -

If you and I can agree on level of expectations, then I would highly recommend the WDTVLH.  The WDTVLH is cutting edge, not bleeding edge.  Here’s the difference: bleeding edge means you know full well that the product fit, finish and quality are a coin toss at best.  Bleeding edge users want to be the first kid on the block to implement a new functionality/capability.  Cutting edge translates into raising your expectations regarding fit, finish and quality SLIGHTLY.

WD from what I’ve been able to gather in the last week has a framework in place to capture bugs, prioritize them and then swat them via firmware updates.  That said, there’s still some things that make one look askew like Nipper the spotted dog looking into the old RCA Victrola (Google for the image).

It is not plug and play.  It’s plug, play, learn, pull a little hair out, talk to lunatics like me in the forum, and forge progress and success.  The neato thing is that the investment for me has the full potential of being great as the robustness of the device improves with firmware updates.

MOST of the problems I’ve read fall into three categories…

• failure to RTFM

• device and related technologies a wee bit over the heads of some

• legitimate gripes (not functiioning as designed OR unclear instructions)

In summary, if you want 100% plug and play with all the capabilities of the WDTVLH, maybe there’s a better product out there, but not with 1T @ $200 out the door.  If you don’t mind a mid-level learning curve and have the patience to have your questions answered pretty darn quickly herein, then I think it’s an excellent value for the money with the potential to be a steal as firware updates kill bugs.

Cheers!!!

Jim

[RolandCT]

Great news and I’ll read up on that . sorry for not being specific, a big no-no for a experienced forum user and IT guy like me. Basically I’m moving toward a pc-less house with just phones, tablets and laptops. So I do all my video conversion and editing at work since I have the power there and access to it 24/7. So when I’m done I want to transfer my media home, directly to the hub over the internet. I can make changes to the firewalls on both end if necessary. I placed an order yesterday anyway as I assumed there would be some way to make it work. Now the torture off waiting for Amazon’s free shipping. Thanks again and look forward to helping out in the forum when possible.

[slim7]

Jim, u simply just converted me in your small novel u wrote haha. Thank u, i think it was exactly what i wanted to hear. I will be heading out to buy one tomorrow and it seems as if i will be enjoying this new toy

One thing i will ask, when streaming things through a network share, when u add a new file, does the system automatically pick it up? Or do u need to reboot ?

Slim

[jimpreis]

Slim -

What comes around…

The marketing answer to adding files on a network share and then they just show up is, “Yeah.  That’s the ticket.  Works just like that.”

Here’s the real answer (suggest grabbing a beverage of choice).

The design engineers at WD (or whomever WD outsourced the design to) decided to give the end users two ways to regard their devices…

Perspective 1 - Media player.  John Q. Public stores h/her files on the WDTVLH doesn’t attach to anything and could care less about seeing his media in a library view.  In this scenario the Library funtion is disabled and JQP is fat and happy using local media files.

Perspective 2 - The Omnipotent Media Player Streamer Hub/Master of Time Space and Dimension.  This is the scenario where the user wishes to see h/her comprehensive media collection regardless of where it is; PC, NAS, other media server.  But since the media is residing on devices remote to the WDTVLH, the WDTVLH has to have some way of validating the content’s existence (is it still there?, is there a new version of the 2 hour video of my four year old giggling?, maybe the trees and shares have been reconfigured.  Enter the dreaded Recompiling of the library.

Your question is germane to the second perspective.  Yes, when you put a new file out there, the WDTVLH is going to see it, but not until either the Recompile happens (gouge my eyes out with a spoon kinda slow sometimes) or until after a sync has run between the two folder/locations you’ve specified.  It’s really not that bad.  Clearly a fan of satire here.

I will add this.  I think the majority of owners of the WDTVLH are going to do a metric ton of stuff at the beginning of their relationship with the WDTVLH.  They’re going to learn, swear, but then settle in with the satisfaction of having mastered the Soduku of Media Servers.  Then they’ll enter maintenance mode, a couple of new movies here there and yon, and whatever the normal volume of new music and picture files are added per week/month what-have-you.

If overcoming modest technical challenges and mastering new gadgets turns you on - this thing is a no-brainer (take it from someone with no brain).  If you’re easily frustrated and expect perfection as your OOBE (out of box experience), you might want to reconsider OR simply tweak your expectations.

Cheers!!!

Jim

[slim7]

Great ti read your follow up novel to ur highly succesful first.

I guess i do fall under that cloud, i have a **bleep** ton of movies on disk, and im always adding more to it. Previously i was using Tversity and if i added something i needed to refresh it from the app itself on the pc, and from my PS3 i could then see the new files. That was mainly the reason why i asked. Just wanted to know if i have got a new movie would it show up when its done.

Now, i did get the unit today, have not messed with it to much, being from Australia, the news has been something i have been stuck to due to the recent disasters happening over this way. I did play a little with it, set up my network share and everything works so well. Was quite impressed. I guess the next thing is just spending some one on one time with it and learning how it works. Should be an interesting few hours, so i will see how i go.

Slim

[slim7]

well im enjoying it so far. Hate that i need to reset it for new files to be shown, other than that im loving it !!