I loaded a iso file to the hard drive and the iso file is unable to play it just sits there with a blank screen. Does this player not play iso files? What would you recommend me doing?
Yes, it plays iso files. How did you create it?
The specifications on WD’s website doesnt list ISO as playable video.
gambitz wrote:
The specifications on WD’s website doesnt list ISO as playable video.
The specs on the website lists playable file formats.
VOB is listed as playable. What else would be in an .iso?
As Tony says, .iso will play for others.
You have a point. However I would recommend WD to update their specs list.
There are VOB files that are by itself. So it could mean VOBs without ISO.
Also to clarify, IFO files means being able to load DVD folder and view the DVD MENU. Loading VOB will go directly to the movie itself and may not play subsequental VOBs.
So the specs list should list IFO and ISO as well to clarify for most people. I am a techie and I am fussy with file types.
gambitz wrote:
You have a point. However I would recommend WD to update their specs list.
There are VOB files that are by itself. So it could mean VOBs without ISO.
Also to clarify, IFO files means being able to load DVD folder and view the DVD MENU. Loading VOB will go directly to the movie itself and may not play subsequental VOBs.
So the specs list should list IFO and ISO as well to clarify for most people. I am a techie and I am fussy with file types.
.iso is mentioned a number of times in the user manual.
The pdf user manual has it listed in the supported formats under .MOV/.ISO
But an ISO is just a container for most any kind of file(s). The ISO that won’t play could contain a damaged movie, or a bunch of software, or the next Wikileaks data pile. If you have the 7Zip utility handy you can view the contents of the .iso with that and see if it’s a dvd or something else.
After reading a bit of the ping-pong about ISO versus VOBs, did anyone ever answer the original question? I am having the same issue. Most ISOs play without a hitch (ten of twelve). But there’s two puppies I can’t get to play, black screen, but the unit still respondes to the remote; e.g. it’s not hung/locked up. Not that it matters, but the movies are Christine and Starman. I am using DVD decrypter to make the ISOs.
Twenty years in PC development and a decade in writing marginal code tells me the liklihood of this being a WD problem is hideously remote. Methinks the ISOs are defective; but even with this assertion I can’t assign root cause. Could be DVD Decrypter, could be the drive going flaky after many years (and yes indeed I do have the lastest FW on the DVD drives 
) Of course none of the other files - created with the exact same configs - have any problems, so…
This isn’t the end of the world, but if anyone can suggest any other point of failure I can investigate, I - like like our President - am all ears.
Thanks folks. Fool stream ahead!!!
Jim Preis
Update: Now I am leaning to WD as to the source of root cause.
I tried ripping the ISO from the original DVD again and I was - and am still - getting the same problem. Click to play it and I get a plain black screen, but no hang per se. BUT Then I noticed if I go back to the gallery, the preview plays!!!
Now I may be missing a blinding glimpse of the obvious here, but if someone can walk me through the logic where this isn’t a WDTVLive Hub defect, there’s quite possibly a cold beer in it for you.
Thanks y’all!!!
Jim
The WD’s are VERY picky about the STRUCTURE of a DVD.
If the DVD ripper messes around with the IFO structure (the file that contains all the Program Guide Chains, Chapter Structure, Menus, etc.) it’s possible the WD will not play it in “NAV” mode, but the internal VOBs can still play, which is exactly like you describe.
I’ve had that happen a couple of times.
In DVDFab, I turn off ALL of the options that modify the IFO structure-- I rip the ENTIRE DVD (with all the FBI warnings and all that) I do NOT tell it to “Start with the Main Movie when Disk is Inserted” or ANY of that stuff.
I USUALLY enable the “Smart Scan” or whatever it’s called, but sometimes that has to be DISABLED to get the DVD to be parsed correctly.
The ONLY thing I do is tell it to REMOVE UNREFERENCED PGCs (which waste space, and aren’t valid to begin with) and remove PUOPs (Prohibited User Operations.)
100% of my DVDs (so far) play correctly.
jimpreis wrote:
Update: Now I am leaning to WD as to the source of root cause.
I tried ripping the ISO from the original DVD again and I was - and am still - getting the same problem. Click to play it and I get a plain black screen, but no hang per se. BUT Then I noticed if I go back to the gallery, the preview plays!!!
Now I may be missing a blinding glimpse of the obvious here, but if someone can walk me through the logic where this isn’t a WDTVLive Hub defect, there’s quite possibly a cold beer in it for you.
Thanks y’all!!!
Jim
If you jump into the window of the preview mode you will see that the DVD plays without menu’s, its a different mode to playing an iso in the other lists. You get just get the basic movie without extras.
There is obviously something wrong with the way that dvd decrypter ripped your movies and the WDTV is unable to play the menu’s. It could be the way the manufacturer protected the movie. DVD Decrypter is very old now and no longer supported so its very likely that it cannot cope with some new copy protection. Try another ripper like DVDFab - its not free but you get a trial period and the basic ripper remains free after the trial.
Tony -
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I am actually having fun trying to resolve this and your breadcrumbs are much appreciated. In the interim I’m simply using Handbrake to transcode a reasonable .mp4.
Looks like I get to go try a fourth ripper 1) DVDDecrypter 2) DVDShrink 3)AnyDVD and now DVDFab. Hope it’s either free or trialware as I promised my wife the media center would only cost $200 and, well, I lied.
Cheers and thanks again amigo!!!
Jim
Rich - Thank you as well. Hope I can return the favor of a reply one day.
Jimpreis, let us know if its not working. ISO format is the best for DVDs on the HUB. I have all my DVDs saved as ISOs and all play perfectly!! Also, what drive are you using to connect to the hub? Or are you placing them on the local storage in the hub?
Hello all,
I have just recently (yesterday) set up our new WD TV Live and it played .iso files. We then promptly updated the firmware to the current version. I thought it was fantastic the way everything just worked - it found shared drives on the network, and it was happy to play .iso files, but now it wasn’t happy to play .iso files.
But then I went to show someone and the .iso wouldn’t play which was most confusing as it had just been doing this. So I tried the reset (soft) after which it would play the .iso perfectly. (I tried a few different .iso files)
But again, we later sat down to watch a show and it wouldn’t play the .iso. I tried just turning it off and on via it’s remote control, then it did play them.
So I still haven’t worked out at which point it decides to not play them, but when it does, it does fine …
Perplexed …
I am frustrated!! Have you tried to rollback the firmware?
http://download.wdc.com/wdtv/wdtvlivehub_2.02.19.zip
Thats the link for the previous firmware. Worth a shot, no?
Rich, Tony & Other Helpful folks…
The ISO ripped using DVDFab plays flawlessly. Therefore it is imperative that I recognize that RCA (root cause analysis) yielded the ISO ripping SW as the culprit that was producing a sub-optimal rip of the ISO. I can state with certainty that SOME ISOs ripped with DVDDecrypter (depricated/old), AnyDVD and DVDShrink play without a hitch, but some do not. Despite a sample size of only two to date, it is my prediction that DVDFab will likely continue to produce quality ISOs.
For those that asked, I keep my limited movie collection (~20) on the WD TV Live Hub itself. I have streamed them from an XP server up in the office, but there’s no reason (for me) to use a the more complex set up. My next purchase will be some ginormous where ALL my media will reside.
Now if anyone can help me assure my wife that THIS (purchase of DVDFab) will be the last $55 dollar purchase associated with my new media server…
Thanks folks!!! This was fun. Without the help it could have been frustrating.
Have a superfantastic day!!!
Jim
Left out NAS after ginormous.
heid4055 wrote:
I am frustrated!! Have you tried to rollback the firmware?
Thats the link for the previous firmware. Worth a shot, no?
You would have to edit the ver file to get that firmware to rollback.
Better to use the rollback firmware here (at your own risk)
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5860
jimpreis wrote:
Rich, Tony & Other Helpful folks…
The ISO ripped using DVDFab plays flawlessly. Therefore it is imperative that I recognize that RCA (root cause analysis) yielded the ISO ripping SW as the culprit that was producing a sub-optimal rip of the ISO. I can state with certainty that SOME ISOs ripped with DVDDecrypter (depricated/old), AnyDVD and DVDShrink play without a hitch, but some do not. Despite a sample size of only two to date, it is my prediction that DVDFab will likely continue to produce quality ISOs.
For those that asked, I keep my limited movie collection (~20) on the WD TV Live Hub itself. I have streamed them from an XP server up in the office, but there’s no reason (for me) to use a the more complex set up. My next purchase will be some ginormous where ALL my media will reside.
Now if anyone can help me assure my wife that THIS (purchase of DVDFab) will be the last $55 dollar purchase associated with my new media server…
Thanks folks!!! This was fun. Without the help it could have been frustrating.
Have a superfantastic day!!!
Jim
There was no need to purchase it - it has a free trial and then will still rip basically forever after the trial.
