WD box freezing all the time

Hi there, i have read alot of the post in regards to my problem, also i had a message saying memory low a couple of days ago.  i am not much of a tech person, so i need simple answers but from what i have read, and since tried… nothing is working and it still freezes after approx 20 mins of viewing.  i never had the problem before, and i cant seem to operate the box with the remote alot as well at the moment so im getting very frustrated!

Any suggestions?

maybe the box is overheating

did you try to put it upside down?

i have one since 2012 and another since 2014 

I also am experincing the same problem. I have been using 5 WD boxes in my home for many years and in the last few months I started having the same problem, after awhile the picture locks up and becomes unresponsive, the only fix is to unpower and reboot. It does not matter if it is wired or wirless and only happens when using file sharing or media service on the network but all play OK using the USB ports. I tried a different hard drive on the network and used my old router and it has the same effect.

It seems to have started happening after the last firmware update. The boxes use to come up in the diplay when ever there was a firmware update but I have not seen one lately. If I go into the system to check for new firmware updates it says it is unable to and I need to check my network connection, it checks out good and I can get Netflix so I have no idea why it comes up with that. I am running Firmware 2.02.32

If anyone has any solution it will same me from throwing all these boxes in the trash.

Robert108 wrote:If anyone has any solution it will same me from throwing all these boxes in the trash.

well, you could always try rolling back the firmware before trashing it

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/2-02-32-Firmware-no-longer-allows-content/m-p/781937#M32423

This happens to me from time to time. If I reboot my router and any switches infront of the wd it fixes my freezing issues all the time for me. I have 5 WD devices and up to now this has been my only issue.

My device is also freezing with Netflix as well - today was first time.  Still testing the device.  Tests show that it is the device not Netflix. Firmware is 2.02.32 and device refuses to look for, or can’t see, the updates. Network tests show everything is working to specs on my wireless network.  Of course, warranty expired 25 April 2015.  Considering that there is newer firmware upgrades, there may be a relationship with the devices inablitiy to upgrade.  Which may or may not cause conflict with Netflix. But, until you confirm or deny, I’ll continue to test.  Currently watching movies off my passport, attached to device, and playing pandora, everything is functioning.  Model: WDBHG70000NEK-HESN.

I had problems with random files not playing and getting the orange spinning circle.

I tried everything different software changes to network, tried wired , wireles and some system settings in my QNAP nothing worked.

what I found was it was caused by a faulty power pack,

when i was working on the WDTV Live it was connected to a second power supply in my office and it never hung ever but whaen i reconnected it  in my equipment rack the orange circle came back.

I swapped out the power suply in my equipment rack an vola no more spinning circles.

any difference in Amps between the 2 power supplies ?

Rolled back the fireware.  No problems now. Firmware 2.02.32 seems to have a bug in it.  Rolled back to what reads as 2.01.86.  Will consider your recommendation of rollback to 1.02.17 if new or old problems occur

I aggree, rolling back the firmware to 2.01.86 fixed the video freezing probelm I was having, update 2.02.32 would even freeze up on the screen saver. I have watched 4 movies that were freezing up and they are fine. I have rolled back 2 boxes, three to go. Have Fun!!!

My WDTV live box has been doing the freezing off and on for a year or so now. No spinning wheel, just a frozen screen and no response. Needing an unplugging to restart. Occasionally I get the low system memory message onscreen usually after an unplugging. I use it only to play files and mostly from an attached HD. Sometimes it goes for weeks without problems but then for a week or two it might lock at least once a day. A factory reset will only guarantee a day or two trouble free. These same files play perfectly on a second try which makes me think that they are not the problem.

Trolling online it would seem that nobody even knows where the system memory is kept or how to clear it. Peope refer to their “WDTV boxes” without mentioning which version they have (not surprising considering WDs weird naming) Has anyone with this problem got one of the new boxes “WDTV media player ?” If that was the answer to my problem I would be quite happy to upgrade (or downgrade ?) to one of the new boxes. I do love my WDTV live because of its ability to play nearly everything but if another company brings out a box with the same range I would not hesitate to jump ship.

You mentioned some firmwares I am not aware of.

Can you tell us what WD Box are you using?

I had issues with playing files (circle spinning around and nothing).

Since I disabled auto WiFi it works well now, but still have to test.

I am on 1.02.17 - reported as the newest for my device.

So I THINK I HAVE found the answer to the recent freezing issues others have been discussing (at least to my problems with no guarantees that it will fix yours).

A few things to first know…

  1. I’m very confident the freezing issues most (if not all) are reporting are firmware related.
  2. The answer is (as others have recommended in various community threads) downgrading the firmware.
  3. By me doing #2, my freezing problems have disappeared.
  4. BUT keep in mind this might not solve every problem for everyone.

So what’s the best procedure? Don’t follow any instructions but those from JoeySmyth in this thread (IMO)…

https://community.wdc.com/t/2-02-32-firmware-no-longer-allows-content/83987

…or from the cut & paste of the same below (with a few notes from me in BOLD)…

So there you go. Good luck, but all I know is that it worked for me.

it worked…thank you very much

I just followed these instructions and it seems to have fixed the freezing problem. Thanks for the information, just saved me buying another media player.

Hi

I’m new to all this but thought i’d give my input too…
How you guys instructed to roll back the firmware was spot on, solved my issues with my 2x WD Tv freezing all the time.
I was super annoyed when i updated my firmware & this issue started. Was on the verge of binning my 2 WD Media players & buying 2 Raspberry Pi’s. Luckily the rollback worked.
The setup i have is:
Netgear ReadyNas 104 with 12TB (9TB)
Netgear R7000 Nighthawk AC1900
2x WD TV media players
2x Apple TV’s

Thanks again for the Solution!