WD TV Live Streaming Media Player

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

Hey there guys how’s it going?

My name is Sonja and I desperately need some help here and if you can help me in layman’s terms that would be even better.

I purchased a WD TV Live Streaming Media Player from JB’s (not that I suppose that’s a big deal). I have set it up to my Panasonic Viesta via a Soniq HDMI cable. As far as I know I have followed WD’s instructions to the ‘T’ in regards to connection. The media player is hooked up to HDMI2 as my Foxtel is hooked up to HDMI1. I know that I’ve done all that right 'cos I’m looking at the media player’s home screen; ‘Music, Videos, Live TV, Service’ etc

Because I want to access my movies from my WD Element (external) Hard-drive I have the external (portable) hard-drive hooked up to the WD TV Live Streaming Media Player as per manual’s instructions. Currently it is showing at the top of the TV screen ‘Compiling Media Library’.

I have WD TV Live Streaming Media Player’s manual opened on my computer. Page 18 has got me rather confused. It states "A USB device must be unlocked for the media player to access its contents.

  1. Navigate to the Home screen, and select the menu for the media content you
    wish to access. It can be Music, Videos, or Photo.
  2. In the Unlock your WD Drive screen, press / to select OK, then press OK.
  3. Use the navigation buttons to type in the USB drive access password in
    the on-screen keyboard. Select Submit, then press OK."

(1) For a start, to the best of my knowledge my WD Element is not locked, I’m able to plug it into both my computer and my father’s computer and save data to it; specifically movies and music.

(2) I don’t quite understand the instructions to unlock it. I am currently at the ‘Home’ screen for the multi-media player and I do not see any options that indicate “In the Unlock your WD Drive screen, press / to select OK, then press OK”.

Another concern is, why is it taking such a long time to compile the media library? Admittedly I have a considerable amount of data on the external (portable) hard-drive as I use it to back-up my data; which includes word docs, music (32 gb) and a couple of movies and photos. Is it reading all my data off my external (portable) hard-drive?

Now please, I’m sorry if I’m annoying you with my ignorance as this is my first experience with a multi-media and if you can take a deep breath and be patient that would be appreciated.

Is it normal for it to take this long to compile a media library? If so, okay, I can deal with that, however, can we watch ‘normal’ TV whilst it is compiling the library? If it’s not normal, what do I need to do? Also, the issue about unlocking the USB device e.g… WD Element external hard-drive? As soon as I plug the external (portable) hard-drive in I am unable to do anything. I would have to switch the WD TV Live Streaming Multi-Media off and start all over again. It has been supposedly ‘compiling media library’ for 3 days. Again, admittedly we have been watching ‘normal’ tv, during that time, so I’m not sure whether that interferes with the process.

Finally, I bet you are all relieved :manhappy: Just for your interest I have wireless internet, I am currently using the Thompson TG782T (courtesy of Telstra, Australia). That’s another drama. Initially the WD TV Live Streaming Media Player would not accept my internet connections automatically, I had to do it manually. With the aide of a very patient Bigpond technician I was able to enter the necessary details e.g. IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway and DNS. However, that caused problems with my phone WiFi connection and in the end I had to reset my modem to allow my phone to pick up my WiFi.

What I thought was going to be a simple ‘Drag and Drop’ of movies onto the media player has become a drama, I’ve had the set since Friday last week and I’m still unable to use it.

I’d love to hear your advice

Thank you for being patient, and having the decency to read my post, I appreciate it, now it anyone of you could help me … Again … In layman’s terms that would be wonderful.

:womanhappy:

2

I found the first time that I turned on the SMP and compiled the media library it took about an hour maybe even longer.  Is there any reason you need the media library turned on?  A lot of people (including myself) don’t use the media library.  If you want the media library and it is taking a while to compile and yes you can still watch normal TV or foxtel while the SMP is compiling.  Maybe do a disk check to ensure that there are no errors on the hard drive - you can do this by connecting it back up to your computer and have windows check for errors.

Don’t concern yourself with the unlocking of hard drive as yet as you won’t be able to access your files properly until the media library has compiled everything completely.

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3

Thank you for your reply PGRated.

I appreciate that the time that you took to reply.

I was under the impression (probably rather foolishly) that to be able to watch movies via the media player I had to put them on an external (portable) hard-drive and plug the hard-drive into the Streaming Media Player (SMP), you can tell I’m new at this LOL the acronyms *grin*.

No-one tells you anything when you buy something do they? The manual doesn’t even tell you what you really need to know. They tell and show you how to do it, they just don’t tell you anything else, such as updates, compiling media library. Actually come to think about it, when I plugged my external (portable) hard-drive into the SMP and selected ‘local storage’ it told me that I didn’t have anything on it.

What is your advice in terms of watching movies via the SMP? Should I disconnect my external (portable) hard-drive completely from the SMP and wait until all the updates have finished first; so far there has been two. It started off with 1.12, 1.15, now it is updating to 1.16.How can I switch the media library off? I just (again foolishly) assumed that to watch videos I would have to have the SMP’s media library switched on and my external (portable) hard-drive connected via USB to the SMP

I’m a ditz at this … as you can see. However, the good news is that once I learn something I never forget it.

Thank you PGRated for your help:womanhappy:

4

It’s advised not to mix PC data (docs/backup files) with Media Files (music/video/photos)

The SMP is attempting to read and complile every file (including PC data files which are not supported) which is causing the slow compiliing (even if you turn the media library off …it will still take a long time for the drive to be recognised)

Place all your PC data into a “.” folder eg.   .PCdatabackup  on the HDD

The SMP will then ignore this folder, (it’s hidden to SMP, but not a Windows PC see below:) and only scan the media files (video/music/photo)  on your HDD

How to create a “Dot” folder: http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-SMP-Discussions/Is-there-any-way-to-get-the-player-to-ignore-folders-on-a-drive/m-p/583482#M22512

Show Hidden Files (Win7): http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/show-hidden-files#show-hidden-files=windows-7

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5

You say you are getting firmware updates. It would probably be better if you ejected the hard drive and allowed all the updates to take place. However its probably too late now and you have been totally updated. You can switch off the media library in the setup and start watching / listening by selecting local storage and drill through the folders until you get to your media. Its probably best that you don’t use a general backup disc for accessing your media for the reasons joey has given plus the risk to the data.

You can actually just watch as I have mentioned and as long as you select local storage and not my media library you should be able to watch immediately via folders. In fact normally if you select media library in the list and it has not finished compiling it will ask if you want to use folders.

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Hi Joey

You have been an absolute blessing thank you for that. I disconnected the external (portable) hard-drive as soon as I read your reply and will work on creating a a data folder that won’t confuse the SMP.

:womanhappy:

7

Dear RichUK

Thank you also for your advice as soon as I’m allowed the TV (my son is monopolising it at the moment) I will get into the SMP’s home screen and adjust the settings.

8

Here’s another tip:

Hard drive are not so expensive these days (a 1TB can be bought for less than $100, and a 2TB for not much more).  So, buy one just for your WD player where you put only media files on it in main folders called Music, Videos and Photos, with the appropriate files in them.  Like has been mentioned,you don’t want any files on a HD that can “confuse” a media player, so keep it simple and feed it only what it likes:  Media files.

Look for a HD that has a sleep/idle feature so if the media player is not in use, the drive hibernates untill needed.  WD makes drives like these.

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9

I’d like to add that using the rear USB port on your SMP can cause things to take seemingly forever and many times to fail completely.  This is a known issue and there is apparently no firmware fix possible.  Use the front USB port.

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Hi Mike27oct

Thank  you for that suggestion.

I did think about that option actually, However, I followed Joey Smyth’s advice and, *touchwood* (if it worked) I have my data hidden. However, I am thinking about purchasing a WD HD soley for the purpose of transferring videos and music onto it. Thank you also for mentioning the sleep/idle feature as I would not have though of it and it sounds like a sensible idea 'cos then I don’t have to disconnect the unit at all.

:womanhappy:

11

As I said, WD has drives with a sleep mode.  See this link for info about their Elements desktop external drives:    http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/AAG/ENG/4178-705026.pdf

I am sure they make smaller portable drives with this feature too.  I know their sister company HGST (formally Hitachi drives) makes great portable drives that take up less space than desk models.  I recently bought their Touro Mobile drive and a Touro Mobile Pro drives in 1TB versions for under $100, and both go to sleep after 10 minutes.  All drives made today are USB3 (not USB2 anymore), but they work with the older USB2 gadgets.  I like to buy my stuff via the internet sellers here in US, so depending upon where you live, you can check into that angle, too.

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12

I bought a WD My Passport 2TB external USB drive for use with my WD TV Live SMP. The two work very well together and the drive is set to sleep after a few minutes of non-use.

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13

Harvey Norman (Australia) has got

Western Digital Elements 1TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive 

on special for $88

 

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/western-digital-elements-1tb-usb-3-0-portable-hard-drive.html

but i would be quick (price usually goes up the next week)

 

Have bought a few drives from Hardley Normal … one had a faulty usb connector, returned it to the store the next day and got a refund. (which is kinda why i still like retail shops… and most are within 15-20 mins of where i live)

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14

MarkJ wrote:

I’d like to add that using the rear USB port on your SMP can cause things to take seemingly forever and many times to fail completely.  This is a known issue and there is apparently no firmware fix possible.  Use the front USB port.

Wow, is this really a known bug with the SMP and still not fixed?  That s^cks.  I would be flaming PO’ed at WD for this one.  How can a product go out of a factory designed with two USB ports, and one is disfunctional on all units from the get-go and not even be fixable?  Hard to believe.

 I have Live Plus units, and have TWO, 2TB drives attached to one, and the HD on the second player is on the back port; front port has a wifi adapter.  I can use any and all ports. 

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15

I’ve had no problems with the rear port on my unit. I did try the front port just to make sure it works, but have not used it since.

16

mike27oct wrote:

Wow, is this really a known bug with the SMP and still not fixed?

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-SMP-Discussions/Intention-to-finalize-a-rear-USB-port-issue-drives-USB-3-0/td-p/392589

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17

Not everybody experiences the rear port problem, but a huge number do.  It apparently depends on the particular unit and what your are doing with it, but it is definitely a HUGE problem.  Tons and tons of strange problems disappear as soon as you switch to the front port.

The problem is nasty and I’m sure WD would fix it if they could with a firmware update, but they haven’t even though it’s been known for a long time.

I’ll bet plenty of folks have returned the thing, just assuming it’s a **bleep**. If you have been using the rear port and had no freezes, dropped drives, etc., then lucky you, but for most people sooner or later there will be some strange problems that wouldn’t have happened if they had used the front port.

You can bet that the next version of the box will get tested pretty thoroughly!

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Techflaws wrote:

mike27oct wrote:

Wow, is this really a known bug with the SMP and still not fixed?

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-SMP-Discussions/Intention-to-finalize-a-rear-USB-port-issue-drives-USB-3-0/td-p/392589

OK, I’ve seen this thread but never looked into it.  It’s up to 14 pages of posts now, so can you give me the “short story”?Most importantly, what has actually been determined about this issue; has WD “fessed up” that it real and reproduceable by them, and have they offered any solution so far?  I saw that it might have depended up different manufacturing runs, (indicated by ending model number) and that some part may have been bad in a particular run(s).  Any confirmations regarding this?  Does it appear the problem was in early players or later on in the product cycle?

All this encourages me to continue waiting for the next iteration of their top-of-line player, and just stick with my Live Plus for now.

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19

My next challenge will be accessing movies on my laptop; without the external (portable) hard-drive, relying totally on my WiFi

Any suggestions guys?

:womanhappy:

Or will that be another chapter in ‘The Days of my SMP’ :womanwink:

20

I haven’t tried the rear USB port. Maybe I will give it a go, just to see whether I will have a problem. Admittedly my SMP is only a couple of weeks old this Friday.