WDTV Live 1.03.40 Beta

Community Archives WD TV Live Firmware
21

Updated my WDTV Live from the official 1.02.21 FW to the 1.03.40_V Beta mainly so that I can play my MKV movie library, the majority of which had been processed with MKVMerge v4.2.0.

  1. The good news:  The spinning wheel no longer displays indefinitely, all the movies with compressed headers now play normally, yay!

  2. Not a biggie:  defaults to 720p 60Hz on boot up.

  3. Not-so-good news:  With the WDTV Live’s sound set to DIGITAL, no audio is heard at all on movies with more than 2 channels of audio encoded (i.e. DTS, AC3 5.1, etc) - this applies to m2ts as well as MKV files.  However, AC3 2.0 (i.e. commentaries) and in general stereo/mono audio tracks (e.g. Casablanca) work fine. When set to STEREO, audio is heard normally for multichannel Dolby & DTS.  Didn’t have this audio problem before with 1.02.21.

Setup: WDTV Live connected to a Yamaha RX-V765 receiver via HDMI. Would really luv to resolve this without reverting back to 1.02.21, as that would render most of my movies unplayable cos of the header compression issue…

Cheers in advance for any thoughts/advice on this!  :slight_smile:

22

PixelPower wrote:

 

whattheheck wrote:

 

But since I still have .40 on the machine i suppose i should do a few tests. Perhaps this will be the last firmware upgrade for the WDTV Live now that they have released another WD player.

 

 

The Live and Plus are so similar in terms of hardware that firmware development is the same for both, hence the firmware numbers being identical (the Live gets Plus firmwares, minus Netflix).

 

It’s fine being pessimistic about WD firmware development in general but don’t be a scaremonger.

  1. The two are not compatible, they could have deigned it so both models used the same firmware, hardware need not be a deciding factor for that.

  2. I decide what I say, not you. We know their usual style is very few updates, and then they drop “support”.

23

Correzpond wrote:

 

 

I had two separate  .mkv files created in MKVMERGE 4.2 that previously would not play that do play on .40 firmware. Assuming that there is not some other issue than header compression affecting your files, your observation suggests that the firmware fix negotiates MKVMERGE 4.0  and 4.2 files differently ?

 

So far I have had the WDTV running all day on my system & v .40 & it has hardly skipped a beat. The only issue I have seen has been a buffering delay on Mediafly which I think reflects limitations of my internet connection rather than an issue with the WDTV Live.

Ok, I’ve been testing scenarios and spent way to much time on this (might see some benefit down the line i suppose)

I tested version 410,411,420,430, and there are indeed sound irregularities.

The video was at all times a h264 stream - and if the header for the video track is compressed the WDTV Live just jumps back to the menu, ie it gives up playing it (this is an improvement, previously it would lock up the machine and you needed to powercycle)

Now. If the sound was an ac3, then yes, like you said, it does work with a compressed header BUT if its an mp3 tracking then it does NOT work.

ie, If its an mp3 track with a compressed header the video is played in silence, with no sound.

Curious.

24

whattheheck wrote:

 

Now. If the sound was an ac3, then yes, like you said, it does work with a compressed header BUT if its an mp3 tracking then it does NOT work.

ie, If its an mp3 track with a compressed header the video is played in silence, with no sound.

 

Curious.

I can confirm that all my .mkv files that play have AC3 audio which may explain why I am not seeing a problem with  files created in the more recent (>4.0) versions of MKVMERGE. I convert AAC audio now almost by default to AC3 in mediacoder since my Sony receiver doesn’t handle 6 ch AAC even if the WDTV Live does (and I’m not sure that it does; it seems to down-mix in the current official firrmware and possibly pass-through in some of these betas).

I can certainly understand if don’t want to muck around with converting the .mp3 audio in your files as it kinda defeats the purpose of purchasing “The” player than can supposedly play anything (except of course it doesn’t :wink:)

25

The previous thread was locked… so here is my experience with installation of 1.03.40

I updated my WDTV Live to v1.03.40 today and the following happened:

  1. First reboot to 720p resolution showing a WDTV Logo… this takes several minutes to go away,

  2. Second reboot to 1080i resolution showing a jumbled screen that is only barely readable. It looks like it says that it is updating and is showing a progress bar… but it has a funky rainbow effect , the text is shifted to the right, and every scanline looks doublespaced. I can tell that it is updating but it is not pretty. It counts up to 100% an reboots.

  3. Third reboot boots initially into 720p with the WDTV Logo, my screen flashes like a resolution change but it stays in 720p, then flashes again into 1080i with the funky rainbow effect. I was able to tell that the menu was displayed, so I scrolled down to Settings and found my way to Factory Reset.

  4. Fourth reboot (after factory reset) and it boots up into 720p and everything is now displaying properly.

I have a Sharp Aquos LC37D40U tv, my WDTV Live was set to 720p before the update… why did it switch to 1080i after the update and show a garbled (but readable) screen?

One other thing happened since my initial installtion… my USB wireless network adapter stopped working after powering off the WDTV Live. It was working fine up to the power off, but when I powered up the WDTV Live the USB adapter didn’t activate (ie. no blinky lights and no network connection). I had to unplug and replug the WDTV Live to get the network adapter to work again.

Otherwise everything else is great.

26

Pre-release firmware version 1.03.40_V., after hard and soft reset and clean the .wdtv folder from the USB-HDD:

NEW FIX:

 - Subtitle position is now saved. YES!

 - Better compatibility with .mkv’s.

NEW BUGS: 

 - The .MOV files (M-JPEG) from my Panasonic DSC-TZ5 stutters a LOT with all Betas (with any video configuration). With version 1.02.21 this files played flawlessly!

 - Can’t play some blu-ray .ISO files that work with v1.02.21.                                                                                                                            

AC3, DTS, DTS/96, TrueHD (passthrough) works great with this Beta firmware! My receiver is a Denon AVR-1911.

I think the problems with hdmi handshake that I had with v1.02.21 are gone with this Beta.

27

The subtitle position is now saved, but the subtitles are off by default. :cry:

Also the network shares can’t connected always. No problems with the media servers though.

Maybe this is due the change of the IP number. Although I reserved this in the DHCP lease, it changed magically.

28

Marcel-X wrote:

The subtitle position is now saved, but the subtitles are off by default. :cry:

If you go to your settings for Video you can turn them on by default.

1 Like
29

I,ve downloaded the firmware from here and everything seems to be working fine!Thanks a lot !

I still have to do a final mkv-header test,but so far so good!

30

MKV header compression problem is solved,furthermore i can FINALLY  play DVD menu,s in this update!

Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!!!:smileyvery-happy:

31

Just to keep facts straight, ALL of the 1.03.x firmware has support for DVD menus.

32

I did not know this! I did this beta-upgrade from 1.02xx .

And mostly do an upgrade from the internet,so i get only the final releases. like 1.02.22 not 1.03…

33

direct download link :

http://vuplus.bermoodateam.com/Files/wdtvlive_1.03.40_V.zip

good luck

34

 

 

JimKnopf wrote:

 

I’m one of the users driving the WDC live with its component video interface. Tried 1.03.40 but the ugly bug displaying  an incorrect format is still there, see

 

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/Correct-Image-Formatting/idi-p/323

 

To make it more sick, the new DVD menu support disallows the zooming icons, so even the workaround to zoom manually to 0.9 factor is not working anymore.

 

Disappointed downgraded to 1.02.21, again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TonyPh12345 wrote:

DVD Menus NEVER allowed zooming in ANY firmware.

 

 

Just to make a more precise statement about the problem introduced with DVD menu support:

With 1.02.21 there was no DVD menu support. The bug for component and composite video signal users (mentioned above) is also in this firmware but a workaround exists to zoom manually to factor 0.9x playing video files.

Introducing DVD menu support eliminated the workaround to manually zoom to factor 0.9 … since there is no way playing DVD iso images to prevent the media player from running into the DVD menu mode.

So, in summary for those users (like me) having bought the wd tv live since it also supports officially composite and component analog video interfaces, the wrong zoom factor bug led me to give the box a bad  review; if the new firmware even prevent the manual zoom workaround, it’s a NOGO for all users using analog video TVs to buy the box.

Regarding the box’s problems/bugs and the permanent tries to put lipstick on the pig by some users in this forum:

There are people like me who bought the box since we believe in the marketing information for the product (yes, we German really buy into these information and there are really legal rules in Germany to protect the consumers and fine the vendor of products, if they try to catch consumers with technical information which are not true).

- With 1.02.21 the box’s playback of video material using analog video interfaces (composite+component) is poor forcing the user to manually correct the zooming factor every time.

  • Starting with DVD menu support even that workaround does not work anymore

Take my apology if you can show me a way to play DVD iso images with 1.03.38 or 1.03.40 without the format bug or even the possibility to manually correct the wrong zoom factor … and no, neither to force the users to recode their video material to other formats like pure vob files nor to buy new TVs with HDMI interface is not an accepted workaround. And WDC does not want you to say using WD TV live with composite/component interface is a sub-optimal solution, so it’s better to look for other solutions on the market.

So, for those users who wants to comment every problem of the box reported in this forum:

Please, try to reproduce the problem … if you can and can provide a solution or workaround or information which could help, nice; that’s what I expect from a forum.

If you cannot reproduce the problem by missing HW or circumstances you cannot build, it’s sometimes better to say nothing …

But, please, stop these annoying statements that everything is fine and giving all people here the feeling, problems are caused by consumers only since their expectation is far beyond reality.

Thx

35

JimKnopf wrote:

 

 

JimKnopf wrote:

 

I’m one of the users driving the WDC live with its component video interface. Tried 1.03.40 but the ugly bug displaying  an incorrect format is still there, see

 

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/Correct-Image-Formatting/idi-p/323

 

To make it more sick, the new DVD menu support disallows the zooming icons, so even the workaround to zoom manually to 0.9 factor is not working anymore.

 

Disappointed downgraded to 1.02.21, again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TonyPh12345 wrote:

DVD Menus NEVER allowed zooming in ANY firmware.

 

 

 

Just to make a more precise statement about the problem introduced with DVD menu support:

 

With 1.02.21 there was no DVD menu support. The bug for component and composite video signal users (mentioned above) is also in this firmware but a workaround exists to zoom manually to factor 0.9x playing video files.

Introducing DVD menu support eliminated the workaround to manually zoom to factor 0.9 … since there is no way playing DVD iso images to prevent the media player from running into the DVD menu mode.

 

So, in summary for those users (like me) having bought the wd tv live since it also supports officially composite and component analog video interfaces, the wrong zoom factor bug led me to give the box a bad  review; if the new firmware even prevent the manual zoom workaround, it’s a NOGO for all users using analog video TVs to buy the box.

 

 

 

Regarding the box’s problems/bugs and the permanent tries to put lipstick on the pig by some users in this forum:

There are people like me who bought the box since we believe in the marketing information for the product (yes, we German really buy into these information and there are really legal rules in Germany to protect the consumers and fine the vendor of products, if they try to catch consumers with technical information which are not true).

 

- With 1.02.21 the box’s playback of video material using analog video interfaces (composite+component) is poor forcing the user to manually correct the zooming factor every time.

  • Starting with DVD menu support even that workaround does not work anymore

 

Take my apology if you can show me a way to play DVD iso images with 1.03.38 or 1.03.40 without the format bug or even the possibility to manually correct the wrong zoom factor … and no, neither to force the users to recode their video material to other formats like pure vob files nor to buy new TVs with HDMI interface is not an accepted workaround. And WDC does not want you to say using WD TV live with composite/component interface is a sub-optimal solution, so it’s better to look for other solutions on the market.

 

So, for those users who wants to comment every problem of the box reported in this forum:

Please, try to reproduce the problem … if you can and can provide a solution or workaround or information which could help, nice; that’s what I expect from a forum.

If you cannot reproduce the problem by missing HW or circumstances you cannot build, it’s sometimes better to say nothing …

But, please, stop these annoying statements that everything is fine and giving all people here the feeling, problems are caused by consumers only since their expectation is far beyond reality.

 

Thx

 

A forum by its very nature is for open discussion. Therefore the members, yourself included, can comment on anything they want to. Sometimes it may go in your favour and sometimes it does not. Unfortunately a lot of people do have unrealistic expectations for the unit, however I do agree that it would be nice to have a zoom feature on the DVD menu.

36

richUK wrote:

 

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/Corre​ct-Image-Formatting/idi-p/323

…

 however I do agree that it would be nice to have a zoom feature on the DVD menu.

 

Thx for your understanding and support. In my opinion the prioirty of changes should be

 

  1. Fix critical bugs (like here the cropped videos using analog video interfaces).
  1. Implement enhancement requests of high interest (could be that other people demands zooming; if the box would display video material best fit to the used TV/monitor device without cutting any informationen, I personally could even pass on this feature).

 

Just to underline that the current situation of looking for a solution for cropped video using analog interfaces is not an enhancement request but it’s a hard error which prevents consumers to buy the box if the issue gets public in market places within the internet like amazon, etc.

37

Jim; the “Cropped Video” is NOT A BUG, and by no means a CRITICAL bug.   ANY Analog source will do that (or, at the very least, SHOULD do that.)

99% of analog TV’s have a certain amount of OVERSCAN.    It’s built-in to the standard, and “compliant” displays obey the SMPTE’s guidelines. If the display sources DIDN’T do that, then people that have TVs with LESS overscan will see boxing.   

It’s been that way since television was invented.

Your DVD player hooked up via analog will do it, too, to a greater or lesser extent.

I agree that having Zoom/Unzoom would be useful, but we need to be careful declaring that it’s a “Critical Bug,” and be very critical of your blanket statement that “it’s a NOGO for all users using analog video TVs to buy the box.”  Your statement is based on opinion, not fact.

I’ve used my Live Plus via Composite in both my Minivan and my Silverado, using cheap-o LCD panels; the result is fine.  

1 Like
38

With 1.03.40 i can not connect to my NAS SMB Shares. With .21 everything is fine.

39

Loghorn:   Go to NETWORK SETTINGS and CLEAR the login info.

That happened a while back after a firmware update; it might happen now…

What are you using as the SMB server?  What does it report in its connection logs?

40

Hope that oficial release would be capable of  several enhacements tha are basic features in any media player of that price and with less powerfull sigma chip (i.e. 8623). I’m talking about better in-file navigation (at least a “go to” option), volume control and BCS control…

For several months we’ve been only assisting on a large set of fixing stupid bugs that are not suposed to be there. Some of them cretaed by each new Beta. But, no needed enhacements…! (An exception is DVD menu support)

Each Beta creates a bug, and new Beta is for fixing that bug, and itselves creates another… and so on. Indefinetly…!