First point to note on the 1.02.14 firmware pre-release update is that my network share authentication details were wiped out after the update and the WDTV Live would not connect to my Samba share. I had to switch ‘Auto login to network share’ to Off, clear the login info and re-input.
It now takes 75 seconds or longer before playback of a large MKV starts. I am playing files from a Samba network share over wired Ethernet. Never had this problem with previous releases.
My file server is a Fedora 12 box with Samba 3.4.5-55.
Just a suggestion for the beta testing group that can improve feedback and the overall rate of improvement. I would use Directv “cutting edge” program as an example. They provide thorough details and rules for downloading, feedback, and communication of problems with the “beta” firmware. It provides specific rules and opt-in requirements to test the units, and a dedicated private forum for discussion of the “cutting edge” firmware. It is expected when a beta firmware is downloaded that it is known that:
risk is involved
discussion and problem reporting is a requirement of downloading the firmware
discussion of problems is limited to the private forum.
customer service is not called with problems with cutting edge firmware.
Benefits for WD and the enduser:
Direct line of communication with specific users
Knowledge of specific setups and specific problems with a multitude of setups
Improved feedback through the dedicated forum
Minimized calls to customer service
Improved product with a wide range of users
Enduser:
Improved capabilities of the unit, with a sense of involvement in improving the product.
overall a pleasant surprise, finding this prerelease, alas, still missing an option to play video files in shuffle mode, still hoping that this will be implemented at some point, and earlier = better :smileyvery-happy:
With this Version i cannot access any shared Samba Mounts on my Debian Server anymore !! after testing the whole afternoon with settings, i give up … and wait for an better Version.
Rolled Back to the 1.01.24 . everthing works fine.
Anyone using this new firmware, does it fix any of those problems:
srt subtitles showing way to high up
WDTV not switching automatically to proper resolution/refresh rate based on the content eg: 50hz video to 50Hz 24Hz video to 24Hz
magically disappearing network shares (appears after some time without reason)
jpg files show up in Video over Network Shares - when going to videos over network shares mine is showing jpg files in the same folder as my mkv files ( I don’t even dream about proper library support)
Someone here said there is no shuffle for videos, who cares? There are much bigger issues to be fixed than that. Mine WDTV is getting dust because things I mentioned above make it unusable !!! WD People please take 20 minutes, look how XBMC is done and improve your product.
In general this version works fine. I stream my files through LAN from my home pc (Windows 7 x64). I’ve never had any issues while playing files to my WD Tv Live, network drops etc.
First Impressions :
Major Bug with .mkv files. It takes a VERY long time start playing these files, HD or SD content doesn’t matter, but .avi files start without any delay.
LAN access is very fast now.
Larger Subtitle font sizes options is GREAT. In my opinion this is the most important update of this firmware. The only thing that needs to be added is while playing a movie to be able to adjust the subtitle position with the up and down keys, which are disabled while playing a movie.
.mp4 movie files are again out of sync with audio, needs to be fixed that.
I got the impression that video image is a little more darker than before. I’ll have to look at it more thorougly to be sure.
After waiting 20 minuttes!!! for an MKV to start playing (it didn’t) I reverted back to the last official firmware. Sorry guys, end of this test until you fix that.
When trying to browse my local workgroup or NAS I still get the same “There is no media in the current folder” message as with every other firmware version.
My Windows 7 and XP computers can all browse the workgroup (default “WORKGROUP”) and see the hosts within it and they can browse the shares on the NAS (OpenSolaris/EON CIFS based).
For fast MKV opening through network shares don’t use anonymous login but a normal user/password (eg. test/test)
For lower subtitles on the screen convert your srt etc. subtitle to .a-s-s format (Maybe .ssa works too. I had to add hyphens to the extension because of bad word filtering :smileyvery-happy: Anyway it works on any firmware)
