WD Photos renames and changes dates

Yes, this is very helpful, thank you. It appears clear that file manager, both on the PC and the app available for iPad, is the way to go to easily preserve filenames and dates for photos copied to wd MyCloud.

It is so unfortunate the manufacturer (that would be YOU, WD!) put out a useless application that just wastes everyone’s time. Better to pull the app since it does not function properly, and tell users to use the file manager app ($2.99 from the app store but it WORKS), or windows file manager on PC. So simple. Thanks again!

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I’m having a similar frustration here, bought the MyCloud as I perceived that it was a replacement for Dropbox.  We’d got the problem that if we’d done something as a family and had all been taking photos on our phones, when we got home the internet connection would become virtually unusable as all of the phones started uploading to Dropbox.

 

I though the MyCloud would solve the problem, allowing us to rapidly upload all photos as they were staying on the local LAN.  Unfortunately  I could not work out how to auto upload, so looked on the forum, saw that it was a common complaint, lots of people wanting auto upload.  There was even a comment from a WD staffer acknowledging what the public were saying.

 

Well, that was nearly 6 months ago, what’s changed?  Nothing, we’re still using DropBox. 

It’s so disappointing, MyCloud is a great idea, but the mobile device software lets it down. 

 

Personally I wish I’d not bought it.  I’m losing faith that WD will actually make the necessary changes.  I suspect their competitors have realised what a great idea MyCloud is, it it’s only a matter of time before one of them delivers a product that works in the way consumers want.

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I have not seen any updates come through for the mobile apps either. Even with a PC, the software is going to rename your photos to an arbitrary numbering system.
It is definitely not the product we expected either, and their customer response is non-existent.
Too bad, we expected more from Western Digital, but this must not be the right space for them.

I do not understand. The software is not renaming the files you store on shares. It does however create specific files names when the files are backup files create by SmartWare. SmartWare backup files are not supposed to be files you access remotely for viewing, etc.

If you want to access files from the NAS, copy them to shares on the NAS and enable remote access/read access to these shares.

Etupes, 

How are you storing the files? I’ve tried with both the Cloud & photos apps from my iPod & it’s renaming them. Not a problem if I add them in any other way (e.g. the apps from my Android phone, WD Cloud from a Mac etc). 

However, when it comes to the iPod & the WD apps … that’s where I’ve had a problem. 

I’ll have a look at Readle - I’ve heard that suggested for other unrelated things too :slight_smile:

ETUPES: With all due respect, the APP “IS” renaming the photo files as they are simply copied from an ipad or iphone to a share. I understand what you are saying about the backup software, but this is unrelated to the backup software. This is a problem when using the WD APPs. See previous posts in this thread. As far as I know it (the WD apps) have not been fixed.
There are workarounds as stated earlier in the thread but it is hokey when you consider the apps, WD Cloud and WD Photos, were developed for this single purpose and they do not function properly and have not been fixed. Either Mobile is a very low priority at WD or their def support is non-existent. Too bad, i see competitors grabbing this space. Archiving photos from Mobile to local Clouds in straightforward fashion, no name changing, no date changing, is an essential requirement.

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I understand now. Indeed, when copied to the NAS from the WD app the name of the image is changed, while the directory is preserved. I agree with you this is not right.

Can anyone explain how to punch a hole in the router’s NAT settings for port 445. I have no idea but would love to solve this problem!!

Thanks to cory for raising this, and I agree with ValleyPeach, it was the first and most obvious problem I noticed when I first set up my WD My Cloud.  What a let down.

First, my rant…

Renaming (or corrupting, as I like to think of it) the user’s data when the principal purpose of the solution is to facilitate data storage and management is, quite frankly, appalling.  I include this comment only to emphasise and reiterate to WD the the concerns set out by others.

Despite the progression towards convergence and integration of devices, it still appears that most manufacturers prefer the “walled garden” approach, which is unnecessary and, quite frankly, unhelpful given that the tech standards already exist such that OEMs’ proprietary approaches are redundant.

What we all really want, I believe, is effectively iCloud and Photostream-type synchronisations, but with data stored (without corruption / renaming) on our personal drives.  I don’t know if it’s Apple that prohibits the use of other devices for this purpose (or Google on Android - I don’t know much about the dark side :), or if manufacturers such as WD are just keen to do it their own way as an entrapment to make it hard to port over to other solutions in the future (ooh, what a cynic!).

Anyway, the point of my post is this:  Without clever software to keep devices automatically in sync without corrupting my data, the device doesn’t do much more than a home computer can do - and I suspect a lot of users already have one of these that can adequately do the job for a small number of users.  Without the requisite software solutions, I may as well return the device and just use my home PC to serve files over FTP!

However, in the hope of a better future (and finding the right 3rd party software!), I will persevere for another couple of weeks, until my 28-day return period expires.

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Practicalities…

For PCs:  I found  SyncToy  from Microsoft (£free) to be a reliable way to make my initial data transfer (about 500Gb) to the ’Shared’ areas on the WD My Cloud after I’d mapped the drive in Windows Explorer (I tried using WE to copy, but got network lag after a while and, if I stopped and restarted, it was a pain to know how far it had got and what still needed to be copied).  I set it off before I went on holiday and, via the WD app, can see that all my photos, music and videos have now been replicated and appear just as they do on my PC.  I don’t yet know if SyncToy will automatically maintain the synchronisation, or if I have to manually run it periodically.  I will find out in a few days and report back…

For Apple Devices:  The challenge now is how to keep all my devices (iPhone, iPad) and portable computer (Macbook) automatically in sync while away from home, mainly for photos.  And without (a) corrupting my filenames, (b) dropping my metadata, (c) deciding on a new filing system.

There are some suggestions in this thread for LAN syncing.

Can anyone recommend an over-the-air (4G / 3G / WAN) sync tool that could work with the WDMC?

The last posting on this was in August. Has any fix been supplied by WD for this ugly problem?

Costco is offering the WD Cloud products currently but they are getting very BAD reviews on the Costco site.  The biggest issue noted (the one that got my attention) was the file renaming issue.

Can someone from WD please post a plan, with a date to fix this problem? 

I cannot invest in this product with this major flaw un-fixed.

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Good luck hearing from WD on this issue, my friend. It does not appear they are interested in fixing software bugs or addressing users on their own forum. But I do get lots of marketing emails from them about new hardware products!
I recommend you look elsewhere if the renaming issue is a dealbreaker as it was for me.

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Thanks, VP.  I guess I will go on to the Costco website and advertise WD’s lack of responsiveness.  What a shame.  It looks like a great product (almost).

this is a user support community site, not a WD support page. well a WD rep is on here somtimes you need to contact WD support by phone or email to reach them

It might be a “user” forum, but it is clearly maintained by wd, as is obvious from the URL. Nonetheless, This problem has been covered on their support site, it has been emailed to them, and they have been called. And it is not fixed. Draw your own conclusion.

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I am not defending WD support and I have never used them and try hard to avoid any companies support as they are generally pretty poor.

I just wanted to be sure people arn’t waiting here for an official response as it probably won’t come. the site is supported by WD which is a good thing since it seems to provide better support then official channels

I just found out that  WD Cloud drive does NOT change actual time stamp on the photo/file.  Let me explain. When you browse the files, sure the Modification Date shown is “date and time the file was backedup/written to WD”. But If I open a file, and look for the ‘info’ (command+i in Mac), photo still preserves the time stamp.

[edited]

Similar to copying photos in MAC-situations (noticed above), I experienced this date-time issue just using any file manager on a Linux system. While Windows leaves the time-attributes of the files unchanged, my Ubuntu system writes the time/date of the moment of copying. Reading this solution, I managed to solve this issue. Instead of using the AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) one should choose the Windows protocol for connections with WD NAS-drives.

can someone explain how to do this within the WD Cloud userface?  Is there literally a spot to deselect AFP and chose a Windows protocol?

Got this device for XMas, and tested it by copying over 3 pictures from my iphone 6 and notice they all had the same date of 12/27/14.  NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

I have found the WD Photo App to be a huge disappointment and the renaming/redating of files unacceptable but have managed to upload files easily from my iPhone 6 using the MyCloud app, which does allow you to “select all” when choosing the files to upload, contrary to a previous post, and the name and date were preserved as the original.

However, subsequent uploads of the same files resulted in copies of the original files so the select all option would have to be limited to first use only unless none of the files on the device have already been transferred.

This really ends up being an ad-hoc workaround for inadequate functionality of the software, I had used the Amazon Photo app prior to getting the MyCloud and had expected the WD Photo app to be of comparable functionality ie autouploading, name/date preservation, no copies of previously uploaded files… apparently this expectation was unrealistic!!

Had I bought this MyCloud specifically for this purpose, I would be feeling extremely let down. 

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