WDTV Live FORGETS network shares/library

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

Ok, so heres the run down of what makes up my network: 

Mikrotik router 750gl, configured and functioning well.

2 Custom built PC’s (1 intel, 1 AMD) with windows 7 ultimate on them both

2 Laptops (1 Intel Sony, 1 Toshiba AMD) with windows 8 and 7 respectuflly. (wireless)

1 24 port D-link unmanaged switch.

1 trendnet 8 port (4 port poe) switch.

4 IP cameras.

1 NVR

1 Ubiquity access point AUP

4 Samsung Galaxy Tablets (wireless)

Obitalk 110 sip device

1 Sharp TV

1 Yamaha AV receiver

4 older WD TV live devices (1 original wd tv live, and 3 wd tv live Plus)

1 Patriot PBO

1 HP printer hp8600

1 Wii

1 Xbox360 (not networked)

The problem is simply that after what seems to be a random amount of time (from 2 hours to 2 days) the WD products forget the network shares previously configured to them. I have latest firmware on everything, and updates are current on everything. I searched and found talk about Master Browser and Computer Browser. Performed suggested configurations for both and the problem seemed to go away, or at least take a day to forget the network share versus just a few hours. 

I’ve made 4 calls to WD support and had 2 level 2 techs remote into my machines to attmept a fix. They’ve added multiple users (Administrator, Everyone, the specific user, Anonomous, and so on) to the permission security and sharing. They have run some WD network scanner tool. WD has had me reset the device 5 times. Even changed password sharing and had me specify a unique device name for everything especially the wdtv lives.

The only fix and it seems luck of the draw is to reboot different things (the wd tv live itself, a computer and not necessarily the computer for which the share it forgot is on, and the router)

It should also be mentioned that IF the Patriot PBO is connected to the network, the WD tv live will forget the network shares, but if I unplug the Patriot PBO the wd tv live immediately sees the shares again.

And to further confuse things, the network share is sometimes forgoten all together OR the wd tv live sees the share but says the username or password is bad OR the wd tv live says “theres no media in the current folder” (or something very similar). Note that all devices on the network are Statically assigned an ip address from the router. DHCP is setup for guests wireless connection only. the workgroup is WORKGROUP for everything.

There are some user themes that can be changed, there were 6 themes to choose from that I changed to, but found I couldnt change back to the orignal them. Also, after changing themes some buttons were removed from the dashboard like RSS, Live TV, and Games) the only way to get back to the original theme and get the missing buttons is to device reset. After device resetting 5 times the themes are no longer available, I only have two themes in the list that previously had 6. 

This problem has spanned from the original wd tv lives, to the current version. but since the older versions are not supported I understand we will only discuss the latest version wd tv live. Also, a close friend of mine that lives elsewhere has the same problems. Because all of this i dont think its a defective device. 

any help, suggestions, insight, would be greatly appreciated. Please dont suggest the device is defective as thats really remote (literally like 1 in a million) since this only affects wd tv live devices (legacy and current models) as well as another friend with wd tv live devices has the same problem. Thanks in advance. 

2

Apparently Western Digital DOES NOT help in the forums at all. After changing permissions and allowing everyone and their mother into my computer (presumably in an attempt to get shares seen again) level 2 support thinks the best thing to do is remove EVERYTHING from the network except a router, computer, and wd tv live. 

Regardless of if it works with three devices on the network only or not, thats not how its being used, nor is it how most people use the WD tv live. 

There clearly is a problem with wd tv live as indicated by countless posts and the need to add security risks to a users system. EVERYTHING else on the network works, the wd tv live is the only thing that doesnt function properly and consistently.

WD says they dont respond on THEIR own forums because that might help other users or other users might try the directed steps and break something. Really? God forbid WD helps anyone and gets their products working…

What to do now that WD has remotely accessed my computers and changed permissions and allowed security risks to be in place?

3

tillithz1, please check your private messages. 

4

Returning mine for same reason. Works great until you hit home button and cant reconnect after that. Seems like a firmware issue

5

I’ve had similar problems on my devices connecting to shares on windows via the SMP. What happens is the no media in folder or user/pass even if set to everyone becoming invalid. This only happens when I transfer files from other machines to my NAS in my case. I’ve tried setting up network permissions for specific users and opening it up to every one and I get teh same results.

It’s sort of annoying that I have centralized setup that I can’t use effectively because USB 2.0 and playback in the manner offers better performance because these companies don’t include a gigabit ethernet option and a glitchy and just plain bad file sharing support.

Gigabit was around prior to my first child being born who is almost going into high school. That’s how far behind things are.

6

Baconnaise wrote:

 This only happens when I transfer files from other machines to my NAS in my case. I’ve tried setting up network permissions for specific users and opening it up to every one and I get teh same results.

 

Whoa… This is the same problem I have been trying to troubleshoot on my LiveHub for a while now. It’s very strange. When I copy files from Server1 (Playon DLNA Server)  to Server2 (File Server), the HUB loses SMB connection to Server2 untill I reboot. The HUB does not have any SMB connections to Server1 which has no shares.

Baconnaise, if you make any headway with this please post or PM me.

Thanks

-P

7

When this happens, go to the Media Lirbary Manager and look at the status of the share.

Select the share from the list and press the OK button to see the status.

If it says “Network Error,” it lost contact with the share server.

It retries a few times if it loses connectivity, and then gives up.

8

Thanks for reply Tony. I have the Media Library set to “off”

-P

9

You will get the same errors using the media library until you refresh it manually. It will also crop up sometimes using dlna to share content. I’ve used serviio/plex/playon for example adding or editing say a dlna share for youtube channels or other sites will require a restart of the device. Twitch.tv channels come online/offline all the time and can cause some havoc. I’ve ended up just using an xbmc box or my roku 3 to watch twitch or content via playon channels (hbogo on comcast). If you only have a wdtv you can still get by via dlna as I have previously but it needs to be micromanaged depending on your interests.

Media library really has to be used on this device as leaving it off will cause all sorts annoyances in my experience.

FYI if you’re trying to get hbogo via a comcast/directv sub to stream to a wdtv/roku playon media server is truly the most noob friendly and reliable means of doing so in my experience. I’ve used plex with the user created hbogo plugin and it requires constant babying to work where the playon version works fairly well once setup. I only have internet access my phone is through cell or ooma so all my content is via what I have stored on my NAS or by netflix/amazon.

10

Baconnaise wrote:

 

 Media library really has to be used on this device as leaving it off will cause all sorts annoyances in my experience.

 

Wow. could not disagree with you more. I am a fan of the ML since WD added the ability to aggregate network shares which is an awesome feature, but in general the ML has caused me more pain than it is worth. Also, I use the GBBM theme which the ML causes problems with the linksheets.

Thanks for the HBO GO tip. I do use it through PlayOn to my Roku as well

-P

11

I don’t normally use custom themes as it usually requires extra work via thumbgen to make appearances match. I’ve tried the various ones available (since 2011?) even linksheet ones and find them decent looking for how limited the device is. I’ve used it on or off quite a bit. Linksheets besides limited use and it’s new found popularity via custom theme users aren’t an issue for me.  I’ll agree with you that media library isn’t great all the time as it slows things down or in your case the linksheet problem. Media library in my experience for most folks with some local content is usually the best option for them.

FYI I use sickbeard/couchpotato/headphones along with mediamonkey which basically retrieve and fetch any and all content and metadata I require. 937 movies and 116 tv shows and a lil over 4TB of music (flac eats up space). Last thing I want to do is run thumbgen.

I’m most likely out of touch with typical user experiences.

12

Ahh Baconnaise, you’re just being lazy :laughing:… I have close to  twice the movies/ TV as you and have run it all through TG several times using different themes until I finally settled in GBBM. Worth every second invested. The theme looks killer, and with linksheets my movie / TV show info comes up near instantaneously. When a friend who also has a LiveHub using the stock theme came over and saw my setup, it took me 10 minutes to convince him we were both using the same piece of equipment. Yes, a good theme makes that much of a difference, at least to me.

Ill stop now before I hijack the thread more than I already have.

-P

PS: Yup, I am in 100% FLAC for everything as well. Storage is cheap these days

13

Baconnaise wrote:

Media library really has to be used on this device as leaving it off will cause all sorts annoyances in my experience.

Name one. I’ve read lots of complaints about the media library so I’ve turned it off early on and never had any problems.

14

pearl wrote:

Ahh Baconnaise, you’re just being lazy :laughing:… I have close to  twice the movies/ TV as you and have run it all through TG several times using different themes until I finally settled in GBBM. Worth every second invested. The theme looks killer, and with linksheets my movie / TV show info comes up near instantaneously. When a friend who also has a LiveHub using the stock theme came over and saw my setup, it took me 10 minutes to convince him we were both using the same piece of equipment. Yes, a good theme makes that much of a difference, at least to me.

 

P.S. WTH is GBBM?

 

Ill stop now before I hijack the thread more than I already have.

 

-P

 

PS: Yup, I am in 100% FLAC for everything as well. Storage is cheap these days

 

I’m trying out the stearm/lester/alaska themes currently. I previously tried mojo/coco and darklight.  Lazy is an understatement hehe. I’ll look at the theme you speak of but bear in mind I do have xbmc as well. If I could get a metropolis theme among a few others I’d be a little more interested. Keep in mind that what I have setup software wise doesn’t require user interaction (once setup initially) and still gives me all the relevant information. I get art for seasons and episodes as well as episode/movie metadata information as the files are post processed instantly. The black mamba goodbye theme I might give it a try as I just found the thread. The previous ones were all deleted. I’m very much a function/performance over style kind of guy as all my rigs here at the house don’t use any sort of eye candy or effects. If said GBBM theme runs as well as stock then it might be worth a go. Biggest problem is automating the creation of new assets for tv shows which I shouldn’t have to do.

15

Techflaws wrote:

Baconnaise wrote:

Media library really has to be used on this device as leaving it off will cause all sorts annoyances in my experience.

Name one. I’ve read lots of complaints about the media library so I’ve turned it off early on and never had any problems.

I actually hear complaints about metadata and making the media more easily accessible quite often when I do run into people using the device. Don’t get me wrong I dislike the media library as it gets in my way personally but is a nice feature to have for folks that couldn’t be bothered.

16

Baconnaise wrote

P.S. WTH is GBBM?

Looks like you figured this out already but sorry if I was not clear. GBBM = the Good By Black Mamba theme. It is an enhanced version of BM 1.9 that can use XMLs or Linksheets (much better option IMHO). This is just hypothetical to the conversation though since If I remember correctly, SMP has 30mbs for themes so you are seriously limited to the amount of Linsheets that can fit.  I am using a HUB and my GBBM directory alone is 492mbs, and I also have another 350mb of other themes installed. I did use the BM 1.9 version for a while with XMLs in the video directories and like that very much as well but changed since  Linksheet give you the “eye candy” with speed as well. 

I will say for  “function/performance over style”, my original LivePlus with no graphics/themes etc is screaming fast. 

There are plenty of great themes, GBBM is just the one I personally prefer. The setup and info files are in the HUB section under theme discussion.

-P