Western digital generation 1 hd tv WD00AVP-00 Minimalistic MENU

DSCF0055.jpgI already own an WD elements play and the new much smaller play with smarts:-) I just picked this model up cheap from fleabay for my father in law, and I was really surprised with the horrible menu interface in black and white which starts with “Minimalistic”, really as basic as they come, updated to the latest firmware and it still plays well enough, however is there anything I can do to rid myself of the this menu system, I was hoping it would have something like that of the elements play.

I wasn’t sure if this was even a homebrew version, I’ve tried the reset via pushing the pin in at the side to no-avail. I know from reading that this is an old hmm did say old I mean getting ancient in terms of new tech, but surely WD would’nt bring something to market so basic.

The device you bought (WD HD Media Player (Gen1) is running Custom Firmware with a Custom Theme/OSD.

http://wdtvforum.com/main/index.php?topic=2220.0

In order to get rid of it, you’ll need to update the firmware back to official

http://www.wd.com/en/products/wdtv/

You will most probably have to edit the *.ver file as well

eg. Go to Settings > About  find the firmware version number  … if it is lower than this  (that will be fine)

VERSION=‘1.03.01’
LOCATION=‘wdtv.bin’

if it’s “higher” then edit the ver to a higher number than what your WDTV is running eg.

VERSION=‘3.03.01’
LOCATION=‘wdtv.bin’

Just a Side Note: I also own this player … be aware though, it does not support DTS 2.0 Downmixing … it only supports DTS Passthrough.

ie. If you try to watch a Movie with DTS audio with the device connected directly to a TV you won’t get any sound.

If your Father has a AV Reciever or 5.1 Amplifier with either HDMI or OPTICAL inputs (and it supports DTS) then you will get  sound.

Also, for MKV’s… max 4 reference frames in 1080p (higher than that and playback will stutter)