What firmware version is the most stable and least bug ridden?

Community Archives WD TV Live Firmware
1

I currently have a WDTV Live with firmware 1.00, and a WDTV Live Plus with firmware 1.03.29

I am looking to update the stock firmware, but are hearing horror stories of problems with newer ones. 

Can someone tell me what are the highest firmwares I should upgrade to before I  start runing into all these problems people are having with the newest firmwares.

Thanks.

2

That depends on a lot of things… your files, your network, your display, your audio…

On my Live, with a composite connection, the only issues under 1.05.04 for me are the wrong aspect ratio at boot, and the Video Information Panel issue for changing audio tracks and subtitles and I never had major issues with any of the previous versions… but to me the current bugs I see in 1.05.04 are not “show-stoppers” and are worked around easily enough if i need to change subs or audio.

1.02.21 was generally considered to be a “good” release, but it lacks support for compressed headers in .mkv and DVD menuing.

1.03.49 addresses those, but even then some people have complaints about it.

All you can really do is try various ones, and roll back (or forwards) if you find something unusable for your particular case.

3

A good rule of thumb is that if you are not experiencing any problems, and the box plays the files you want, and you don’t need the myriad of Internet players (FaceBook, YouTube, Deezer, etc…) then leave it be.  If you have a problem that has been resolved by an upgrade, try the upgrade.  If it causes more issues for you than before, downgrade to whatever worked for you.

Everyone here seems to have different luck and results from different firmware loads, so the ‘most stable’ is the one that is most stable for your needs.

4

As others have said, everyone’s situation is different so there is no one ‘best’ firmware that everyone will be happy with. Version 1.03.49 seems to be a popular one to roll back to if you have problems. One thing that is nice with the newer firmwares is the new Netflix interface.  I am using the latest 1.05.04 firmware with my Live Plus and although it has a couple of problems, it is no worse for me than the previous firmware versions. 

If you do NOT have a 4:3 TV, then I would recommend to try the newest firmware. If you have problems, it is very easy to roll back to a previous version if you encounter a problem that you cannot live with (before rolling back, I would try to reset your box first as this sometimes fixes weird problems that some folks get when upgrading).

Even if you do have a 4:3 TV, all you have to do is go into the WD setup and change the aspect ratio to widescreen, and then back to 4:3 and that will fix that problem. Some people would rather have the latest firmware and do that every time they power up, while others think that that is to much trouble and stick with an older firmware.