Hi,
I’ve had my WD Play since Christmas and it has been working fine. Today I decided to try and set up the wifi to stream from my PC rather than play from a USB flash drive. I went into settings to set up the wifi and could not get it working, so decided to leave it for now. I switched it off, watched a bit of TV, then decided to watch a movie from my flash drive.
I inserted my flash drive called “movies” which is one of two that I use regularly. The progress didn’t move much after the first little bit (maybe 15%). I left it with the spinning circle for a while and came back and it hadn’t budged. I removed the USB drive, unplugged the media player (from hdmi and AC) and reconnected it. I went into “my storage” and it was still looking for the “movies” USB. I reconnected the player again but this time put in my other USB flash drive. Even with that one inserted, the player was looking for the original one.
If I go into “settings”, I get a black screen. I can’t access the settings at all.
I have tried pressing a paperclip into the reset button at the bottom of the unit and holding it for 4 seconds. No luck. When it boots up, it still looks for the original USB flash drive, “movies” and spins forever. Even if I unplug the player and plug it in with NO USB flash drive, when I go into “my storage” it looks for the “movies” drive and still does not let me access “settings”.
Is there another way to reset this player back to factory settings? Any help would be appreciated!!
Thanks! 
Fiona
You may have messed up the flash drive. Plug it into the PC and see if it indicates an error and fixes it. And, copy some movies to a different flash drive and plug it into the WD and see if it works. Be sure to always remove ANY drive from the WD correctly – the WD manual explains this.
PS, once you get this working, consider getting a portable HD you can attach to the WD (and is powered by the USB2 port) and keep it there. HDs are not expensive anymore!
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Thanks! I have tried another USB drive but had the same issue and the media player was looking for the original USB drive by name. I put the original drive in my PC and it has no errors.
I didn’t get a manual with my player. I ordered it from bestbuy online but it came in a plain, unbranded box with no manual or anything other than the unit and cable. I didn’t find it unusual as so many things don’t have instruction manuals anymore… I’ll look for a manual online. I’ve just been removing the USB drive by pulling it out of the player.
Not sure what to try next. I would have thought a reset would have solved the problem.
I should add that even after a reset and power cycle, with nothing in the USB slot, if I go into my storage, it looks for the original movies flash drive.
Yes, all manuals are online:
http://www.wd.com/wdproducts/library/?id=383&type=25
justfiona wrote:> I ordered it from bestbuy online but it came in a plain, unbranded box with no manual or anything other than the unit and cable.
That’s a concern – No retail box? No Quick Start Guide? No Remote or batteries? Wow. Are you sure you didn’t get a refurb?
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Thanks very much for the link to the manual!
Sorry, I did get a remote and batteries with it too, but definitely no quick start guide or retail box. The box looked like it was the proper shaped/sized box. It fit properly with moulded cardboard to hold the unit in place. It was odd that there was no branding whatsoever! It was just brown cardboard. Maybe it originally had a retail sleeve over top of it?
I paid for a new unit, so I really hope I received one! I bought it during an online Black Friday sale last year.
Fiona
Yeah, the retail packaging is a cardstock “sleeve” over a corrugated box.
Maybe that’s Best Buy’s “Frustration Free” packaging. :)
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@justfiona
I’ve just been removing the USB drive by pulling it out of the player.
No, no, that is not the proper way to remove any drive; incl. flash drives, from anything! You need to “safely eject” drives, and the WD remote has an eject button on it, then follow the instructions on screen.
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Thanks. Now I know how to remove the drive properly, which I will do if I ever get it working again. It would really help if I could reset this so that it would not keep looking for the old USB flash drive. Is there a trick to the reset button? I’ve read to push it, and I’ve read to push it for 4 seconds. I’ve tried both and nothing changes.
lol, that’s probably what it is! Anything is better than a clamshell!
