Thanks Tony. exFAT is not supported, can I format to MS-Dos (FAT) and use it that way?
Depending on the size, yes. Otherwise you can also use NTFS.
I ended up formating to MS-DOS (FAT) and copying the movies back on it. Worked that way. Now I can also view the hard drive on the Mac and PC. (b/w it is a 2tb LaCie)
But never write anything > 4 GB on it. Pretty much all of my HD files are.
I recently added a WDTV Play box to my house network to go along with an existing WDTV Live box - I don’t think I will be buying another one.
My WDTV Live unit has been running trouble free for close to 1.5 years. On the otherhand, I just posted my second contact to WD in less than a week. The first problem was a failure of the box to release material, but that cleared up with a reset to factory default. The second problem started yesterday: “Browse error. Content not available.” This refers to content attached to a USB port on my router. The WDTV Play box sees it, but won’t play it, i.e.: the file name is seen, but not the file extension. If connected directly to the unit, it will play, but not so via intranet connection. However, my WDTV Live box plays the same content just fine over the network. I’ve reset/restarted, powered down/up etc. all to no avail, and now await an answer from WD.
But despite this latest problem which I will assume can be corrected, there are other differences between the play and live units that will keep me from buying another, e.g., the “Play” unit:
– will not allow you to skip to a particular time (using the remote - I don’t have a keyboard);
– will not allow you to delete a file, unless the file is actually being played, then despite the ‘delete’ an empty shell of the file remains;
– will not appear as device on the network accessible to other computers (i.e.: with WDTV Live, you can use a laptop to browse/access/play USB attached data - one can be using the Live box to play media and simultaneously be used a portal to access/play the attached data on another computer).
There’s probably other limitations too, which I’ve just not discovered yet, but these three mentioned alone are enough to make me not want another one.
I have a 2TB WD external drive formatted to HFS+ that plays fine on mine. Plus I’ve also used a couple 500GB Fat32s without trouble. I have not tried NTFS on my WDTV Play box, think I’ve used NTFS without trouble on a WDTV Live unit.
chris_S wrote:
There’s probably other limitations too, which I’ve just not discovered yet, but these three mentioned alone are enough to make me not want another one.
As long as that motivates you to read up on specs next time PRIOR purchasing everything’s fine.
I have had and still do have a bunch of WD TV players of all generations. I have always liked them, am familair with the user interface so keep buying the latest. And they play everything I throw at them.
The WD TV Play looked a nice box, with some excellent new features, however is HUGELY let down - it does not play MPEG2 - and I have a large number of these generated by MakeMKV software.
It appears to be:
- A serious error to not make your new player backwards compatible with earlier devices - it forces users to consider other vendors and your media is the important part - not the player.
- I believe MPEG is a very widely used standard, so it is also a surprise.
- WD support (who have been very responsive) also tell me that DIV3/DIVX may not play - and don;t seem to on my TV Play.
Having bought TWO TV Plays to date, can I ask WD TV Play marketing to seriously consider supporting MPEG with a firmware update and keeping me in the fold as a regular buyer?
no, no, no 
This thread it’s again opened… after some month i’m never have trouble with my WD TV Play… i always played (from my KingStone Datatraveler G3 32GB) x264 (not hd but sd quality) and xvid file and all file it’s been reproduced whitout problems.
In those section i have some trouble with audio track played distorted (there is a sample file on this same discussion board).
The WD TV it’s connected to my TV by RCA output… i can’t try HDMI and i never try to open a file with DTS audio tracks but all with AAC or MP3.
Ardmarnoch wrote:
Having bought TWO TV Plays to date, can I ask WD TV Play marketing to seriously consider supporting MPEG with a firmware update and keeping me in the fold as a regular buyer?
Of course you can but I doubt anything will come of it. The Play is positioned as competition to Roku as a simple streamer so it’s not aimed at people with a large library. And since they tried to hit a lower price point, I doubt they ever gonna add the licensing cost (or development cost to enable customers to buy and add the license themselves as the Raspberry PI people do).
Techflaws wrote:
Ardmarnoch wrote:
Having bought TWO TV Plays to date, can I ask WD TV Play marketing to seriously consider supporting MPEG with a firmware update and keeping me in the fold as a regular buyer?
Of course you can but I doubt anything will come of it. The Play is positioned as competition to Roku as a simple streamer so it’s not aimed at people with a large library. And since they tried to hit a lower price point, I doubt they ever gonna add the licensing cost (or development cost to enable customers to buy and add the license themselves as the Raspberry PI people do).
on raspberry for support MPEG-2 needs to buy a license:
http://www.raspberrypi.com/mpeg-2-license-key/
or:
http://www.raspberrypi.com/vc-1-license-key/
A complete Raspberry it’s most expensive than WD TV Play… whit a raspberry need to buy a good quality SD, a power plug etc etc… a raspberry it’s about 90€ of total i thinks.
I’ve paid 70 € without Mpeg2 and VC-1.
I paid 55.72 € with Mpeg2 and VC-1 (19/7/13 4.00pm Current Exchange Rate:1 Australian Dollar equals 0.70 Euro)
Below in AUD Prices
Raspberry Pi Model B $41.80
1.2A 5V Power Supply $22.00
Ordered from Element14 (Free Postage on orders over $45)
https://au.element14.com/jsp/raspi/orderPad.jsp?&country=AU&verify=234567#psu
Sandisk Ultra 8gb Class10 $9.95 (Free Postage)
MPEG-2 Liscense Key $3.98
VC-1 Liscense Key $1.99
(Online Payment)
TOTAL AUD
$79.72
JoeySmyth wrote:
I paid 55.72 € with Mpeg2 and VC-1 (19/7/13 4.00pm Current Exchange Rate:1 Australian Dollar equals 0.70 Euro)
Below in AUD Prices
Raspberry Pi Model B $41.80
1.2A 5V Power Supply $22.00
Ordered from Element14 (Free Postage on orders over $45)
https://au.element14.com/jsp/raspi/orderPad.jsp?&country=AU&verify=234567#psu
Sandisk Ultra 8gb Class10 $9.95 (Free Postage)
MPEG-2 Liscense Key $3.98
VC-1 Liscense Key $1.99
(Online Payment)
TOTAL AUD
$79.72
lol… I made an approximate count
I have read on some other parts RS Online it’s best seller… fast delevery etc etc:
Raspberry - Type B Single Board Computer 512MB -> 39.00€
Raspberry Pi Type B Case - Black -> 5.99€
http://raspberrypi.rsdelivers.com/product/rs/raspberry-pi-type-b-case-black/caseblk.aspx
Micro USB Euro power supply for Raspberry Pi -> 7.33€
Add about xx€ from a good SD -> 10€
Total -> approximatly 62.50€ whitout codec (i don’t know if exist a shipping cost)
I have paid my WD TV Play exactly 56€ (including shipping cost when it’s in promotion ) from amazon.it
I am quite satisfied about my WD TV Play… for now i now need to watch a mpeg2 file or other particular codec needed… i have notified only some problems whit some AAC audio tracks and i already spoken about this in other thread in this same section but i thinks it’s a problems whit my TV system at my home but i can’t confirm this (i have try the same file on other media player and no problems).
Hello everyone.
I have read all these comments regarding the TV Play BEFORE getting one, and I did so a week ago or so.
A little background first so you know where I’m coming from. The TV Play would be the last in the series of the TV Live (gen 2), and the Plus (gen 3). I have been extremely happy with the basic and the gen 2. The Gen 3 (aka Streaming) was acquired for MBL TV… I was in heaven with all of these. So much so that I had given an oriinal to a friend.
Now, all I do is watch videos from HDD and Shares from the WD MY Book Live. The Plus with NetFlix and Streaming with MLB and NetFlix had me quite contented.
My somewhat dissatisfaction started with the Streaming:
-
The new menu scheme is/was an absolute pain FOR ME. For instance, on my HDDs and the shares, I created .m3u playlists. The Basic and Plus showed the playlists AND the Folders. On the Streaming? Naw! I have to navigate around and select one or the other… Argh! But that may be progress.
-
The most blatant problem: Just about every HD video in 1920 x 1080 still freeze on the Streaming. I read posts and keep awaiting for a firmware upgrade to fix that, but no luck so far. The Basic and the Plus play these no problems at all. I have moved to 1280 x 720, and now only 1 in 3 o 4 freezes. Still not happy.
Since I want my MLB app, I use the Streaming just for that, and swap the bedroom Plus for HD content. That gets to be an everlasting pain.
So, after reading the comments here and the published specs, I turned on DLNA on the MyBookLives, and decided to get a TV Play after all. The choices on players that support MKV and NTFS are quite rare in the bottom rung of media players, at least here in Canada.
A few comments on the TV Play.
I know I talked about the non TV Play here, but for me it puts things in perspective.
If your needs are as simple as mine as far as apps and videos, and have a bunch of Videos on HDDs and/or a DLNA server, the TV Play is great. It plays HD contents flawlessly without freezing. Perhaps the reason is the the TV Play does not get bogged down with all the added features of the Streaming. Case in point: Since I turned on DLNA on the servers, I had to turn the Media Cataloging off on the Streaming as it was bogging down on Cataloging everything from here to the moon. Every time I turned on the Streaming, it went through this routine. And I’m not using WiFi connections on these devices… It sounds like the next generation Streaming may have more “horsepower.”
There are however a couple of things not too hot about the Play.
In order of discovery, so far:
-
Having a sound bar on the TV, I have the TV speakers turned off. I enabled CEC on the Play. The first video I try, I see a Muted Icon on the right top corner and no sound!! I can’t turn it back on, and nowhere on the remote or the Options Menu is there a way to get Mute Off!!! I had to turn CEC off on the Player. The Streaming does not suffer this drawback. Looks like the Play, through CEC, sees the speakers of and Mutes the sound ??? Humm.
-
Minor annoyance: I was glad to see an optional Clock for the screen saver… A nice change from the WD Logo. But it is inconsistent. Sometimes it’s on and sometime’s it’off! Unplug and replug the power fixes that… temporarily until it happens again… I’d say a bug, but a definitely minor one.
-
The kicker one: the nearly lobotomized remote. Yes indeed. The kicker is that the Streaming Remote Control “Audio”, “Subtitles” and “Mute” buttons work on the Play, yes they do… I know the Audio and Subtitles are available on the Play Options Menu, but they always show the first of many tracks, both audio and subtitles. All previous models showed the current.
However, for those of you with Universal Remote Controls, download the Streaming Remote Control profile instead, and modify the buttons to what you want… Even the Play Remote Control programmable keys can’t be modified with these button as they don’t exist. The Remote Control smartphone apps does not have them either.
Bottom Line.
If your needs are as simple as mine, and have a DLNA server, or only HDDs, then go of it. It is great for the price. I only use MKVs, NTFS support and NetFlix; the Play provides these just fine, in addtion to playing HD contents flawlessly without freezing. As a Bonus for me, the Folders AND the Playlists are back on the HDDs. Alright!
Please note that these are my comments based on my experience with the various WD TV players in order to fairly assess the bottom line WD Play, and not other people’s comments and experiences.
Regards,
RufusMC
Thanks, Rufus, glad you like your WD Play. It was designed to compete with a low-end Roku. I would not want a Play; I would rather have a Roku – MLB works great on it. It’s on our TV right now. (whereas there is lots of griping here about MLB on some of the WD players).
I have two WD Live Plus units and a Roku beside each one of them. Between the WD and Roku, I can deal with just about anything regarding media; mine or streaming. No player can beat the WD for my own media, and nothing can beat a Roku for streaming media.
We have joked here about duct-taping the two together to make the “ultimate” player. One of our members (pearl) created this prototype:
