Thinking of writing 'an Alternative Setup Guide' - any interest?

[cpt_paranoia]

It strikes me that the automated ‘all at once’ WD Setup program pushed in the User Manual:

i) is unecessary, since everything can be done via the Dashboard

ii) is too ‘black box’, so users don’t understand what it’s doing, and can’t fix it if it goes wrong

iii) installs too much unecessary software

iv) enables too many services that totally overload the NAS when it gets dumped with a huge amount of data (as it likely to happen with a new NAS)

v) prevents the user learning in a step-by-step manner; it’s all a huge learning curve.

So, I was thinking of writing an alternative setup guide, similar to my Twonky FAQ.

The approach would be to start simple, paring back all the fancy features to leave a simple file server.

Then, once that is set up and data has been transferred, gradually enable the additional features as the user requires, at each stage increasing their understanding of how the thing works, rather then the huge learning curve imposed by using the WD ‘black box’ setup.

This has been in my mind for some time, having seen so many people struggle with setup unecessarily, but I’ve been prompted by finding a 2TB drive on discount, which I intend to use as a ‘sacrificial’ device for cloud access and test purposes. I ran through the entire setup via the Dashboard, and, so far, I’ve found nothing I can’t do.

I won’t be able to advise on TimeMachine or iTunes server, as I don’t have a Mac.

This would be a lot of work to write and check, so I’m asking if anyone thinks it would be useful first…  Any interest?

[Bennor]

Probably would be useful for some. There are probably many users who don’t have problems with their My Cloud and it works just fine for them. The main problem, at least as I see it, for a fair number of people who come to this forum seeking help is they haven’t bothered to take the time to read the user manual from cover to cover. Or they blame the My Cloud for a problem when its their; TV, phone, network, WiFi, or other device that is really at fault. Far to many simply used the “Quick Install” guide install the MC setup program, and then walked away only to find out that there are certain issues that need to be addressed, or a tutorial of how to do certain thing to get the most out of their WD My Cloud.

It will probably need to be broken down into sections so people can get to the specific information they seek, quickly. Something like this:

Initial setup and configuration - which would probably help a good number of people. This would include how to setup a static IP, not installing the WD setup software, and other basic device setup for the first time.

File storage  - how to access the My Cloud on their local network to copy files to the device.

Data backup - How to use either Smartware or some other data backup program on their local network to back up their files.

Media server - which is already partially covered by the existing Twonky FAQ. But perhaps some more general info may be needed to cover the basics.

Mobile remote access - Cover the limitations of the WD My Cloud app and the WD Photo app for mobile devices. How to backup photos with both apps. How to upload files with both apps.

PC/Mac remote access - Cover using the WD My Cloud Desktop app along with WD2Go.

Advanced management - disabling certain features to free up the processor. Using SSH. Adding modules or features.

Known issues and workarounds - highlight the known issues and possible workarounds with issues like slow transfer speed, why it takes hours to back up, copying to or from an external USB mounted device, etc. Far too many people don’t understand exactly what the My Cloud can, do so they expect the My Cloud to do something it cannot do (at least not easily).

It is very easy for some of what the more experienced people talk about (like SSH) to go right over some peoples heads. Some want a simple device to do a specific task and when it doesn’t work they get frustrated and rant here in the forums how the device doesn’t work (in their view or for their needs). Unless one reads the user manual cover to cover they may find the WD My Cloud user interface daunting and confusing. Problem is, most don’t want to be bothered or have the time to read the user manual cover to cover. On a side note the bugs and limitations in the UI doesn’t help either as it only serves to confuse and royally frustrate people, but that is probably a discussion for another thread.

Just some rambling thoughts. In the end though most will still race here when they have a problem to ask a question that chances are have been asked or discussed in prior threads.

[iceref]

I think that would be a great help. Kind of like a ‘My Cloud for Dummies’. And I don’t mean that in any derogatory way at all. I just purchased the My Cloud 4T. Set up was vey easy, but as you get deeper into the user manual it really starts to get more complicated with unfamiliar terms. Kind of lost me midway through it. Your alternative guide would help with the translation. Thanks.

[BigJake]

i just posted about under the support el capitan thread. it would be best to turn keychain off during the entire setup process and be careful if using a name that is used for logging in OS as a registered user for the device. OS allows a space between first and last name and WD does not and this was part of the conflict. EXAMPLE…(John DOE) Vs ( JohnDoe).

Keychain sees this as 2 different users for the same path and since time machine has its own pathway that is different from shares as they are different DISK its possible as in my case keychain was using one keychain log for time machine and another for the other shares. All share/disk being on the same ip address and not realizing the logs were different i could log into Time Machine and see no other shares or i could turn time machine off on both units and see all the shares. however nothing when trying to do both. Once i realized the issues i went in and corrected the keychain entries making sure all paths were correct as i had renamed my cloud and that caused other logs entry. plus the public shares, and the access from WD site had its own separate entries in keychain. So if someone has limited access the keychain log for that part of WDcloud may be incorrect. I feel this could affect the constant scanning as well somehow, just a thought. keychain trying to access and mount the drives causes conflicts if the entries are corrupted. the unmounting of the drives/ shares could be from internet loss and the drives not being set for auto mount. so when manually mounted and connection is lost they don’t remount unless its done manually. I looked in my system info and the shares have auto mount off. My other question is i see in system info that that my airport has a sleep protocol and I’m curious if WD borrows the airport protocol or does it use its own. if it borrows the airport being its plugged in to it, if the router doesn’t sleep is it possible the that would stop WDMycould from sleeping. And as in my house my router stays so busy I doubt it ever sleeps and that not to mention if some virus or other issue keeps router traffic going that may affect a shared sleep protocol. I don’t have a clue but whats the harm in asking the question. I could go on and on about my experience/nightmare to now head in the right direction as everything is more or less working other then a few more weeks to clean up keychain. Then i can add more than the 1 folder and mp3 that i have on it and keep my fingers crossed i don’t have anymore issues like the one i have read on here. thanks

[NunyaBiznas]

I partially agree with Bennor as I was one of those people who got the My Cloud because of all the cool features. I followed the quick setup guide, dumped 1TB of videos and pictures onto it all at once, and then tried the cloud and safepoint features which bombed.

It was only then I found my way to the forum when googling ‘How come this thing don’t do what the advertisement said it would do’ or whatever I googled. I seriously doubt you are going to get first time users to come to this forum looking for help before the cat5 gets plugged in and media files start flowing onto the MC. I don’t blame the user though because it is advertised as plug-n-play.

What might be more helpful is a guide on how to clean it up once people have made a mess trying to get things working either on their own or with bad advice from the ‘computer guy’ at work or a less than stellar tech support call.