Western Digital - WD TV Live Media Player (WDTV2)

[msmlynarc]

ok I didnt mean to rustle anyones feathers when i complained about the PQ. I went back and was able to access the HDMI output settings, which for some reason couldnt find at first. Being able to choose 720p/60hz or 1080p/60hz on both my tv's did make a difference. The PQ seems to be excellent again! I tested a 1080p Spiderman 3 10gb mkv, a 4.7gb 720p Adventureland mkv, and a 20gb Godfather 1080p mkv. I will do some more tests between my wdtv1 and wdtv live (Which are both local btw) and get back to everyone. For now it seems PQ is ok again.

Aside from this initial hiccup, I am loving the wdtv live, and i havent even hooked it up to my network yet! It is pretty much the perfect media player, dare i say.

[christoofar]

Originally Posted by Chadillac

I noticed the same thing regarding the thumbnail pics. Some of the names have spaces, others don't. It occurs for every movie file and folder.jpg. I tried the WDTV Live directly on USB and the thumbnails work properly. I looked through the WDTV Live settings and couldn't see anything obvious. I'm connected to my Windows XP machine with the external USB drives shared.

Seems to me to be a WDTV Live firmware issue. I guess I could either bitch and moan about it or wait for an upgrade. Think I'll just do the latter

Other than that, the WDTV Live excels. Well worth $120!

Do you have your movies each in a separate folder, or all together in one "Movie" folder?

For movies, the naming should be:

Blade Runner.mkv
Blade Runner.jpg

not "folder.jpg"

I had several that displayed multiple thumbnails of the same movie, it turned out to be the apostrophes in the names (i.e. Woodstock-Director's Cut) Once I removed the apostrophes, problem was solved.


Maybe Scott or GuyWD could advise us on what exactly the WDTV2 looks for when displaying both music & video files again, as an FYI to all.

I know that it will display album art embedded in idtags for mp3s & FLAC (not .ogg sadly), and will display movie art when .jpg is named exactly the same as the movie file is.

The WDTV2 still does not sort music files correctly, alpha-numerically. Hoping that a future firmware fix can remedy this

[AndrewS99]

Originally Posted by kjgross

Thanks for the response.

Some do, some don't, but ALL .jpgs are showing up once for the image and again as the image for the .iso/.mkv. It's like it doesn't matter whether you browse to a share by going through Video or Photos, it will show you any of either type of media in all shares.

I just realized one thing I didn't check was whether the same thing happens on my USB connected drive. It's definitely happening for all files on my network shares. I'll check the USB drives when I get home.

Same here. No apostrophies in my filenames. It's almost as if the thumbnail functionality hasn't been implemented/is broken in the Network Share feature because it works fine on a USB attached drive.

[zoro]

Would this work?

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...=1&topnav=&s=1

[cerps]

Originally Posted by falconman515

Its about 15 seconds when you first load up your mp3 library ... the player needs time to load your complete mp3 library to view and that will always take a few seconds on any player... but once you have loaded your library navigating within your library is very fast from folder to folder and song to song!

You gotta realize its fast but if you are sporting a few gigs of music the box needs a few seconds to gather all that info so It can navigate for your quickly!

Plays mp3 libraries perfect!

Thanks falconman515 for the response to my earlier question and this bit of info. I plan to mostly use it as an audio jukebox at the start so this puts to rest my biggest concern.

[ZenYoga]

Official site up and running:
www.wdtvlive.com/products/wdtv_live

[christoofar]

Originally Posted by marzoqi

what is missing is RM/RMVB and I believe WDtvLive would support it as the other competitors support RM/RMVB , and I really wish there to be some themes , I've got bored of the dark blue theme

RM is not a widely used format any longer, and since it's yet another proprietary
file system, WD would have to pay licensing fees to support it, meaning higher cost to end user.
Don't know about you, but I spend most of my time watching movies on my WDTV, not staring at the theme. I find it clear , easy to use, and functional.

[Chadillac]

Originally Posted by christoofar

Do you have your movies each in a separate folder, or all together in one "Movie" folder?

For movies, the naming should be:

Blade Runner.mkv
Blade Runner.jpg

not "folder.jpg"

I had several that displayed multiple thumbnails of the same movie, it turned out to be the apostrophes in the names (i.e. Woodstock-Director's Cut) Once I removed the apostrophes, problem was solved.

I have my movies broken down in folders by category i.e. Horror, Comedy, etc... and in some cases, sub folders (Mel Brooks, Pink Panther, etc...) all with folder pics. I have the thumbnail names correct as above. (works with USB) I meant to say that with the WDTV2, both the movies and the folder pics are being displayed when choosing video (I have .mks and .jpgs showing up).

Hmm, I just double checked my movies. Apostrophes seems to be OK. "There's Something About Mary" works just fine on mine.

Thanks for the help anyway, though.

[lordhalbert]

Where can I buy one now (in stock) ?

[liquidmetal]

Anyone got a folder.jpg for a generic Movies folder?

I just throw em all in there. On the network it is just choosing one of my
movie jpg's since I don't have a folder.jpg.

THanks.

[HDClown]

Any of you guys who have owned/currently own WD HD TV or the new WD TV Live also have an NMT (such as Popcorn Hour A-100/A-110) ? I have an A-110 currently which I really like (I use it exclusively for video).

I need another device for my bedroom and $119 for the WD TV Live is going to be hard to beat with anything else out there. Again, it will be used exclusively for video and I'll use it over ethernet. Just wondering how it will compare to what I'm used to seeing/using with my PCH. FWIW, I leave my PCH fixed at 1080p/60, even though I have a variety of content at varying reoslution, fps rate, etc.

[Chadillac]

Originally Posted by liquidmetal

Anyone got a folder.jpg for a generic Movies folder?

I just throw em all in there. On the network it is just choosing one of my
movie jpg's since I don't have a folder.jpg.

THanks.

Mine's kind of goofy, but for Comedy, let's say, I have a small pic of Will Ferrell playing the cowbell. I just named it folder.jpg and put it in my Comedy folder. Likewise, for Horror, I have a pic of Nosferatu. The WDTV still displays the name of the folder, but the pic allows for quick identification.

[cjm187]

Originally Posted by msmlynarc

ok I didnt mean to rustle anyones feathers when i complained about the PQ. I went back and was able to access the HDMI output settings, which for some reason couldnt find at first. Being able to choose 720p/60hz or 1080p/60hz on both my tv's did make a difference. The PQ seems to be excellent again! I tested a 1080p Spiderman 3 10gb mkv, a 4.7gb 720p Adventureland mkv, and a 20gb Godfather 1080p mkv. I will do some more tests between my wdtv1 and wdtv live (Which are both local btw) and get back to everyone. For now it seems PQ is ok again.

Aside from this initial hiccup, I am loving the wdtv live, and i havent even hooked it up to my network yet! It is pretty much the perfect media player, dare i say.

Same thing happened to me i noticed my files were playing kinda weird, not stuttering or anything like that, but ****** quality i couldnt find ANY options in the setup to change the output. After clicking everything i too figured out how to access it, and for anyone wondering where it says output hdmi, click that and you will be able to get to the menu to select the proper output for your tv. And yes it made a HUGE difference.

One question i do have is im using a 1tb external drive, is it at all possible to somehow access this like ftp into it from my main computer upstairs. I know this was a possibility with the original but it may have needed a custom fw(this is my first media player of this kind) so i have no idea.

[liquidmetal]

By the way, my thoughts:

AWESOME:

1. Bitstreams TrueHD 7.1
2. Price!
3. Can buy locally and try it out!

Good:

1. Network works and can stream m2ts files via wired connection no problem (so far).
2. Faster chip supports more files.

Needs Improvement:

1. Connection to windows shares is buggy and requires better firmware and better
documentation by WD. There seem to be alot of restrictions that are not documented.
2. DTSMA needs to bitstream!
3. Need IR codes for universal remotes! I hate going thru menus to turn on subtitles for example!

Overall, I am happy.

[Darius94523]

Network shares and this device are absolutely awful. Obviously the connectivity is fine because the WDTV can see all my media servers for streaming, but network shares take forever to show up and are iffy when they do.

[hijack]

Originally Posted by ken984

It works on ANY USB drive. Drive and lights all shut off at power down.

I know that.... I was asking if WD elements models were the only ones not needing a power cord while connected to the WDTV.

edit: ok, I read what scottwd said.

[Jimbo0321]

I bought the WD Live from Best Buy today, and have spent the last two hours trying to get it to find my MKVs which are on a network share on my HTPC.

I can access the MKV share from any computer on my network, but for some reason, the WD Live cannot see it. The WD Live only sees my HTPC as a media share, with only a handful of AVIs that were picked up by WMP11 on my HTPC.

Does anyone know how to export MKV info so it can be picked up by the WD Live, or a way to specify a shared folder from the WD Live interface?

Help!!!

Thanks!

[ronton3]

Macworld has an article about the Live launch. Amazon has it for 119. still preorder.

[hijack]

Originally Posted by Brajesh

If this is planned, I'm buying the WDTV Live today.

They aren´t saying anything about whats planned or not. That would in fact be valuable info for their competitors. I guess that we can only ask for a firmware update to solve the known issues so far.

[hijack]

Originally Posted by goba

i believe that wd should publish a firmware roadmap like xtreamer did!

that way people could know what to expect from this player and have a base of knowledge to make the decision to buy or not this device...

Its not that hard... You sure have plans in wd labs... Could be something like that:

Dvd menus: Yes or no?
Br menus: Yes or no?
More subtitle support: Yes or no?
.
.
.
Etc...

+1

[Neoculture]

Originally Posted by Chadillac

I tried with both of my 7-port usb hubs and could not get them to work directly with the Live player. So, now I have all of my external drives hooked up to my computer through a 7-port usb hub. I shared them, and can access everything with the Live player via the network.

OK, well, that's a deal-breaker for me. Sorry WD, but I can't understand why you appear to have gone out of your way to break USB Hub support in the second-last version of the WDTV1 firmware... and why it hasn't been re-introduced. What's so bad about Hubs?

Anyway, this is a "no-buy" for me until either:
(1) WD comes to their senses and puts Hub support (back) in the WDTV[1|2] firmware; or
(2) someone "jail-breaks" the WDTV[1|2] firmware.

[hijack]

Any recommendations on NAS devices able to stream all the content supported on the wdtv?

[liquidmetal]

You should be using network shares to access mkv in wdtv menus. It appears it is very picky. Can you login via network shares on wdtv? If yes, can you see the folders? Search this thread for lots of findings.

Originally Posted by Jimbo0321

I bought the WD Live from Best Buy today, and have spent the last two hours trying to get it to find my MKVs which are on a network share on my HTPC.

I can access the MKV share from any computer on my network, but for some reason, the WD Live cannot see it. The WD Live only sees my HTPC as a media share, with only a handful of AVIs that were picked up by WMP11 on my HTPC.

Does anyone know how to export MKV info so it can be picked up by the WD Live, or a way to specify a shared folder from the WD Live interface?

Help!!!

Thanks!

[Chadillac]

Originally Posted by hijack

Any recommendations on NAS devices able to stream all the content supported on the wdtv?

I'm currently researching the HP MediaSmart EX495. I would need to buy 3 additional 2Tb drives, but it looks like it would do the job. I'm open to other ideas, though.....

[hijack]

Any more NAS suggestions?

[taje]

Originally Posted by Chadillac

I'm currently researching the HP MediaSmart EX495. I would need to buy 3 additional 2Tb drives, but it looks like it would do the job. I'm open to other ideas, though.....

It claims it doesn't support MKV files, but you should be able to store them and access them from the WD Live right?

Price wise it seems to be the best. The other NAS options I have been looking at are Synology and QNAP.

[christoofar]

Originally Posted by Chadillac

I have my movies broken down in folders by category i.e. Horror, Comedy, etc... and in some cases, sub folders (Mel Brooks, Pink Panther, etc...) all with folder pics. I have the thumbnail names correct as above. (works with USB) I meant to say that with the WDTV2, both the movies and the folder pics are being displayed when choosing video (I have .mks and .jpgs showing up).

Hmm, I just double checked my movies. Apostrophes seems to be OK. "There's Something About Mary" works just fine on mine.

Thanks for the help anyway, though.

Sounds like you might have too many levels of folders w/ pics, may be "confusing " the WD as to what to display. Just a guess though.
I just have Movies folder, which each movie in it's own folder w/ cover art

[krighton]

typical BBuy, went there to buy a Live...they said here they are (old version) i said that's not them...they said that's all they had...i said look around, your website says you have them in stock....so he does...finally finds all of them up high on top of their (these haven't been put out yet, probably why they're the only store in town still in stock) shelf.

So i got one..went to checkout...that'll be $139.99...eh...it's on sale for 119.99.....so got it for the sale price.

left hand meet right hand....BB is a joke.

[christoofar]

Originally Posted by hijack

They aren´t saying anything about whats planned or not. That would in fact be valuable info for their competitors. I guess that we can only ask for a firmware update to solve the known issues so far.

..not to mention that people would try to hold WD responsible for anything they might say about "planned" features, even after it turns out that later they don't pan out or get added.

We need to see lots more users get their hands on them & start seeing what they like & don't like & then WD can go from there & start working on future firmware updates.
As someone else has pointed out in this thread, WD is the only company that I have seen represented in this media player forum by actual WD staff, listening & answering as best they can. I think that speaks volumes of their dedication to this product, & they should be commended highly for that.

[xeres456]

First of all I loved the WDTV1, so I was really excited to try out the WDTV2. While unboxing, I compared the remote and the power adapter and they are identical. I plugged the unit in to my TV and and external drive and everything worked as promised. The picture PQ was slightly off so I went into the video options and adjusted the output to match my TV and now everything is fine. Everything played without a hitch and the WDTV2 was faster and more responsive while cycling thru the menus. The next step was to try a USB wireless adapter. I bought a Linksys WUSB600N and the WDTV2 recognized it, but i couldn't connect. After many frustrating hours it occurred to me to check the firewall and give it full access. That did it and it was working. Everything was working expect mkv files. I was trying to use Windows media player to stream mkv files and the WDTV reported it was an unsupported file type. After a few more frustrating hours my brain kicked into gear and I tried Network Shares instead of Media Servers and all my mkv files began to play. I watched a few movies last night and there where no hiccups, drop outs, stuttering or freezes. The only annoying bit is the network share login screen. The next step is to try Tversity or Playon to see if can bypass the login screen. All in all a great little box.