I have a WDTV Live with a wired connection to an iMac 21.5" Late 2013 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5. I also have a 1TB WD Passport. It seems like I have two problems. 1)Whenever possible I copy my files, usually MKV but other formats as well, to the passport. It is more reliable. I would like however, to be able to stream content without having to copy it first. I used to do this by using the PS3 Media Server software, but there are a number of problems that have made this option very unsatisfactory.
So instead I’ve started using Network Share and Mac networking. My problem is that the WDTV rarely stays connected for more than 30 minutes before I get the warning stating that option is no longer available, would I like to try something else. I then have to reboot the WDTV to get it working again, and then search the file to find where I left off. This is VERY frustrating. So what I’d like to know is if there is some way I can make Network Sharing more reliable? I’ve tried to switch to Windows Sharing but I can’t seem to get that working it all. I’m not sure why, but the WDTV consistantly tells me my log or password is incorrect.
Failing a solution to that problem, I have another question for you. Transferring files from my WD External Hard Drives to the Passport across my network takes a RIDICULOUSLY long time. I’m doing a test right now and it appears that moving a 1 GHz MKV file is going to take more than 10 minutes to transfer. I have tried doing it over WiFi and the times are pretty consistant. Yet copying something to my iPad or PS3 does the same copy in a couple of minutes. Is there a way to speed up the copy process. Sometimes when I have a bunch of files to copy I actually remove the drive from the WDTV and plug it into my USB hub because it’s so much faster. Any ideas you might have to solve EITHER of these problems would be greatly appreciated. I recently bought an Apple TV, hoping it would solve my problem. But most of my files are MKV or AVI and Apple TV only plays MP4.
It would be VERY time consuming and annoying to have to convert all my files to MP4, not to mention the quality losses that could occur, but since I’m already using it to mirror my iPad, as well as stream Netflix, I guess I could use it for streaming my local files as well. I’m hoping it won’t come to that. Looking forward to hearing from you. I’ve bought 7 WDTV boxes over the years. I hope to be buying more in the future.
