WDTV Live Random Freezing

[bradg60]

So I THINK I have found the answer (at least to my problems with no guarantees that it will fix yours). A few things to first know…

1. I’m very confident the freezing issues most (if not all) are reporting are firmware related.
2. The answer is (as others have recommended in various community threads) downgrading the firmware.
3. By me doing #2, my freezing problems have disappeared.
4. BUT keep in mind this might not solve every problem for everyone.

So what’s the best procedure? Don’t follow any instructions but those from JoeySmyth in this thread (IMO)…

https://community.wdc.com/t/2-02-32-firmware-no-longer-allows-content/83987

…or from the cut & paste of the same below (with a few notes from me in BOLD)…

@JoeySmyth

1. small flashdrive (2,4,8 GB) formatted FAT32 … completely empty

2. download rollback firmware: http://download.wdc.com/wdtv/wdtvlivegen3_rollback_2.01.86.zip

3. extract all four files onto the root of the flashdrive ie. No Folders

so you should only have these on the flashdrive

wdtvlivegen3.bi2
wdtvlivegen3.bin
wdtvlivegen3.fff
wdtvlivegen3.ver

4. Before inserting the flashdrive … check the detect New Firmware setting is “On” (THIS IS OFF ON MANY BOXES AND IS ESSENTIAL IT’S ON TO DOWNGRADE THE FIRMWARE.)

Setup > System > Auto Detect New Firmware > On

5. Power off the WDTV (Press and hold Standby button for 5 seconds … switch off at the mains power)

6. “Safely Remove” the flashdrive from your PC/Mac and insert it into the front or rear USB input on the WDTV

7. Power On the WDTV

8. New Firmware should now be detected “New Firmware” notification will appear in the Home Menu. Press OK.

(it will say 4.01.86… don’t worry, ignore it) … press OK to proceed)

9. wait until finished (it can take several minutes … it should not take longer than 10-15 min)
   (NOTE: 40 MINUTES OF BLACK SCREEN AFTER INSTALLING THE FIRMWARE, MY BOX DID NOT RE-START AUTOMATICALLY. I FINALLY TOOK A CHANCE, PULLED THE POWER, AND RE-STARTED. SUCCESS! WITH A QUIICK SETUP CHECK, I FOUND THE 2.01.86 FIRMWARE HAD INSTALLED SUCCESSFULLY. THE SAME MIGHT HAPPEN TO YOU SO TRY WHAT I DID WITH HOPEFULLY GOOD RESULTS.)

10. It’s also recommended after a Firmware Rollback (or upgrade) to do a Factory Reset

Setup > System > Device Reset > Reset All Settings Back to Factory Default

11.when finished (optional) disable the New Firmware notification

Setup > System > Auto Detect New Firmware > Off

So there you go. Good luck, but all I know is that it worked for me.