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WDTV Live - NETWORK ISSUES

post #1 of 175
10/14/09 at 10:27am
Thread Starter 
I opened this thread for people discuss Network issues in WDTV Live!

I think is better to compile all the info in one dedicated thread!

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post #2 of 175
10/14/09 at 10:40am
Anyone having issues with the WDTV Live dropping off the network and having go through the network connection settings again to be able to see network shares again.
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post #3 of 175
10/14/09 at 10:42am
Yes, please see:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1187382
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post #4 of 175
10/15/09 at 8:38pm
I've been seeing a number of problems reported streaming hi-def (eg. Blu-ray m2ts files) over a wired lan. I'm wondering if the problem is with WD's ethernet controller!?. So...in order to keep the benefits of a wired connection, has anyone tried a usb/ethernet adapter? A good jumping off point would be the list of 'approved' adapters found in the Wiki.WDTV web site.
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post #5 of 175
10/21/09 at 6:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goba View Post

I opened this thread for people discuss Network issues in WDTV Live!

I think is better to compile all the info in one dedicated thread!


posted in the other thread but since you're trying to pull network problems together...

Can't see any shared folders on my XP computer.

Am I'm just missing how to select? I'm looking for movies installed in a shared folder on my desktop so on the WDTV I select VIDEO, press enter, NETWORK SHARE then enter again on the remote, but nothing, no prompt for user or password, no files. Same if looking for a shared music file, nothing.

From a desktop computer can move files off and on the WDTVLive, play them on the PC etc. I've followed instructions for sharing, turned off the Windows Firewall, turned on the user guest account, run the Network Setup Wizard, but no luck.

I have since connected a laptop to the router and with it, can see the shared files on the desktop (and also the WDTVlive) so appears no problem with the shares on the DT or firewall on the router.

I'm XP (SP3), wired connection with a Trendnet router (TEW-432BRP) that shows on the supported list.
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post #6 of 175
10/22/09 at 3:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by das75 View Post

posted in the other thread but since you're trying to pull network problems together...

Can't see any shared folders on my XP computer.

Am I'm just missing how to select? I'm looking for movies installed in a shared folder on my desktop so on the WDTV I select VIDEO, press enter, NETWORK SHARE then enter again on the remote, but nothing, no prompt for user or password, no files. Same if looking for a shared music file, nothing.

From a desktop computer can move files off and on the WDTVLive, play them on the PC etc. I've followed instructions for sharing, turned off the Windows Firewall, turned on the user guest account, run the Network Setup Wizard, but no luck.

I have since connected a laptop to the router and with it, can see the shared files on the desktop (and also the WDTVlive) so appears no problem with the shares on the DT or firewall on the router.

I'm XP (SP3), wired connection with a Trendnet router (TEW-432BRP) that shows on the supported list.

Exactly the same problem for me. I've been able to view files wirelessly using media server software called Twonky, but I'd prefer just to see the network shares as I'll have to pay for Twonky soon.
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post #7 of 175
10/22/09 at 4:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by philnort View Post

I've been seeing a number of problems reported streaming hi-def (eg. Blu-ray m2ts files) over a wired lan. I'm wondering if the problem is with WD's ethernet controller!?. So...in order to keep the benefits of a wired connection, has anyone tried a usb/ethernet adapter? A good jumping off point would be the list of 'approved' adapters found in the Wiki.WDTV web site.


The adapter I was using with my WDTV does not work on my LIVE. My guess is they do not provide any other wired adapter drivers.
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post #8 of 175
10/22/09 at 7:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrgimble View Post

The adapter I was using with my WDTV does not work on my LIVE. My guess is they do not provide any other wired adapter drivers.

My experience also. HOWEVER, on Tuesday I found my answer/workaround. Like others with WinXP, I could not use Network Shares...totally frustrating. I then tried TVersity..Perfect! I can now mark any folders using "Share with TVersity", including USB connected to PC hard drives that contain all my blu-ray rips. Perfect and FAST. No stuttering, hesitation, etc.

I highly recommend anyone experiencing a non-starter with Network Shares to try TVersity!
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post #9 of 175
10/22/09 at 7:27am
Contacted WD and here's their response. Didn't work for me but might help others.

Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support.

Please refer to the following links to help you with your issue that you stated below.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....i=&p_topview=1
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....i=&p_topview=1
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....i=&p_topview=1
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....i=&p_topview=1
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post #10 of 175
10/22/09 at 10:41am
IT WORKS.

I installed TVersity and could see the shares, see the server on the PC.

Thought that TVersity has straighted out my PC as when I exited it, no longer could see the server fr WDTV, icon no longer on the desktop toolbar but still had the shares but appears TVversity was still running (still shows in task manager)
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post #11 of 175
10/22/09 at 7:55pm
There must be a way to do this without installing 3rd party software. I can't figure out why my network connection drops after 5-5.5 minutes while streaming a video from my PC to the WDTV Live.

OS: XP SP3

Network Hardware:
On WDTV Live -> Buffalo WLI-UC-GN (Approved hardware by WD)
On PC -> Linksys WRT54GL (Firmware 4.30.11)
On PC -> Realtek RTL 8168/8111 (Driver Version 5.682.1122.2007)

Things I have tried:
- Static & Dynamic IP's on the WDTV Live
- Disabled Task Offload function on Realtek card from suggestion in other thread
- Disabled Powersave function on Realtek card from suggestion in other thread
- Router Firewall is disabled
- Router UPNP is enabled

Future things to try:
- Disable Windows Firewall
- Run a 100ft cat6 cable from the router to the WDTV Live
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post #12 of 175
10/23/09 at 1:48am
Has anyone figured out how to get the WD TV Live to stop dropping the network connection every few minutes while playing media files from the computer whether connected by wired ethernet or wireless USB adapter? This problem doesn't seem to affect media streamed off the internet, like Pandora radio or Youtube, nor does it affect access to the attached hard drive from the computer.
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post #13 of 175
10/23/09 at 3:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by das75 View Post

IT WORKS.

I installed TVersity and could see the shares, see the server on the PC.

Shut the TVersity down as was going to play some more to try and see the shares just with WDTV only, but hey, for some reason the Network Share stays up. TVersity is off as can't see the server anymore. Whatever the install did, it straightened out my PC.

Nice one. Will give it a try, hopefully I'll be able to dump Twonky.
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post #14 of 175
10/23/09 at 11:18pm
At my wits end here...

How in the love of god do I get this thing to login to my main Windows 7 desktop? I continually get a "Failed to connect to file server" when trying to access it from my WDTV Live. Ironically, my netbook, with the exact same network settings, can be connected to from the WDTV Live with no problem!

I am not using Windows 7's Homegroup crap. I have Network Discovery on, File and printer sharing on, Public folder sharing on, Media streaming off, Password protected sharing off. All my PCs have been able to see and share their directories with one another with Win7 for months now. No problem there. But the WDTV Live refuses to connect to any desktop. I briefly thought that it may have something to do with Symantec Endpoint Protection, but I have since uninstalled that and switched to Microsoft Security Essentials in an effort to make it identical to my netbook which as I said can be connected from the WDTV Live.

Searched through this thread high and low and saw a few other people having a login issue like this, but no resolution. What in the world do I have to do to get this bloody thing to simply login to my PC properly??? This really shouldn't be that hard or maddening like this.
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post #15 of 175
10/24/09 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zetaprime View Post

Has anyone figured out how to get the WD TV Live to stop dropping the network connection every few minutes while playing media files from the computer whether connected by wired ethernet or wireless USB adapter? This problem doesn't seem to affect media streamed off the internet, like Pandora radio or Youtube, nor does it affect access to the attached hard drive from the computer.

I'm still troubleshooting but having similar problems over a wired connection.
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post #16 of 175
10/24/09 at 2:16pm
Problem: The WIRED network connection stopped working issue " THERE IS A PROBLEM CONNECTING TO THE NETWORK " " THE DEVICE COULD NOT CONNECT TO THE NETWORK" happens from either an XPPro or W7 PC.

To troubleshoot I isolated the HD Live and a second WIRED PC (a laptop, XPPro) on a dedicated switch/router with no internet connection, just the routers local DHCP Server for IP assignments. NO OTHER DEVICES. Between the HD Live and the local PC the shows will stream and then after some random amount of time, perhaps 5 minutes, the HD Live will drop back to the menu and popup an error that the network connection was lost. The highest speed measured (using NetMeter) was 4MB/s when I was FF/RR video. During static playback the streaming xfer didn't go over 2.2MB/s. [That's MB and not MBit]. So it's not saturating the link, that I can see.

In a second troubleshooting test, with my regular network config (HD live on TV downstairs, server upstairs through a couple of switches). I'm pushing a file from my server to the HD Live's USB connected drive. It's transferring at ~7.8MB/s across the network without any hiccups WHILE the HD Live is playing back the same test video from before from the USB connected Drive downstairs. All 8GB fo the file transferred with no issues. So, it doesn't seem to be heat, network infrastructure, OR video file format issues.

I'm positive now it's not a network cable or network switch defect. I haven't called WD yet, and It'll be fun convincing them of that I imagine.

In a third test (really before I did the two above) I was streaming video to my Laptop over the same wired connection while at the same time to the HD Live from the same server (Win7 Ultimate). The HD Live did fine for about 5minutes before it stopped while the laptop continued receiving video without a hitch.

I gotta say I'm really disappointed with this situation. Hopefully they find the problem and can release a fix soon, my main intent was to stream shows from my Mediacenter PC to the live and now the best situation is for me to 'push' the files to it's USB connected drive which is very inconvenient (since they are in different rooms). I'll likely end up returning it for a refund.
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post #17 of 175
10/24/09 at 6:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eihcet View Post

Problem: The WIRED network connection stopped working issue " THERE IS A PROBLEM CONNECTING TO THE NETWORK " " THE DEVICE COULD NOT CONNECT TO THE NETWORK" happens from either an XPPro or W7 PC.

To troubleshoot I isolated the HD Live and a second WIRED PC (a laptop, XPPro) on a dedicated switch/router with no internet connection, just the routers local DHCP Server for IP assignments. NO OTHER DEVICES. Between the HD Live and the local PC the shows will stream and then after some random amount of time, perhaps 5 minutes, the HD Live will drop back to the menu and popup an error that the network connection was lost. The highest speed measured (using NetMeter) was 4MB/s when I was FF/RR video. During static playback the streaming xfer didn't go over 2.2MB/s. [That's MB and not MBit]. So it's not saturating the link, that I can see.

In a second troubleshooting test, with my regular network config (HD live on TV downstairs, server upstairs through a couple of switches). I'm pushing a file from my server to the HD Live's USB connected drive. It's transferring at ~7.8MB/s across the network without any hiccups WHILE the HD Live is playing back the same test video from before from the USB connected Drive downstairs. All 8GB fo the file transferred with no issues. So, it doesn't seem to be heat, network infrastructure, OR video file format issues.

I'm positive now it's not a network cable or network switch defect. I haven't called WD yet, and It'll be fun convincing them of that I imagine.

In a third test (really before I did the two above) I was streaming video to my Laptop over the same wired connection while at the same time to the HD Live from the same server (Win7 Ultimate). The HD Live did fine for about 5minutes before it stopped while the laptop continued receiving video without a hitch.

I gotta say I'm really disappointed with this situation. Hopefully they find the problem and can release a fix soon, my main intent was to stream shows from my Mediacenter PC to the live and now the best situation is for me to 'push' the files to it's USB connected drive which is very inconvenient (since they are in different rooms). I'll likely end up returning it for a refund.


I've observed the same problem and have also resorted to 'pushing' files from the computer to the WD TV Live's USB hard drive. I'm not planning to return it because I think there'll be a firmware update that will fix the problem, since it seems to be quite widespread. If the problem is in the hardware itself they'll issue a recall.
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post #18 of 175
10/25/09 at 12:47am
Edit: Dose of my own medicine, this started happening.
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post #19 of 175
10/25/09 at 2:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by synaptic View Post

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there, I've been streaming HD ~9GB files over my local network quite successfully, so not all the boxes are broken (and I have a highly complex network setup).

On another note, I'm trying to figure out how to get a fairly constant situation in regards to the servers listed on the WDTV. The Media Servers I think are done using uPNP announce. I'm interested in how it 'discovers' the network computers connected to it for shares.

My WDTV is exhibiting a behaviour that suggests something seriously wrong with whatever method this 'discovery' is. I have two networked printers, neither of which obviously have configurable options nor are secured to any degree. Quite randomly, the WDTV will show one, both, or neither of them. This makes no sense whatsoever, and they really shouldn't be shown in the first place.

Anyone have any idea how this 'Discovery' occurs?

If anyone from WD reads this, can I suggest that you shelve this 'discovery' method and just create a new section in the settings which maps samba drives when you select this option in the Videos/Music/Pictures menu and leave 'discovery' out of the equation; it's simply not working consistently.

I never said that I thought all of the boxes were defective, only that a significant number are having problems. That's usually what happens with product defects. You just happen to be one of the ones who got lucky.
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post #20 of 175
10/25/09 at 2:04pm
it is sad i have to have TVersity loaded on my PC to get the WD live to stay networked.
not one drop out in 3 days using it. with the WD just connecting the my shares it drops randomly anywhere from 3-10mins into a HD film. my 720p encodes seem to play ok but 1080p stutter. using TVersity same 1080p files play all the way through no stutters...

something is wrong with how WD is doing there net code plain and simply....
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post #21 of 175
10/25/09 at 2:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bubbarayhick View Post

it is sad i have to have TVersity loaded on my PC to get the WD live to stay networked.
not one drop out in 3 days using it. with the WD just connecting the my shares it drops randomly anywhere from 3-10mins into a HD film. my 720p encodes seem to play ok but 1080p stutter. using TVersity same 1080p files play all the way through no stutters...

something is wrong with how WD is doing there net code plain and simply....

I'm on board with you..TOTALLY. You got further than I....Couldn't even get "Network Shares" enabled. However, switching to TVersity, couldn't be happier...fluid M2TS play...haven't had one stutter or drop out!
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post #22 of 175
10/25/09 at 2:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by philnort View Post

I'm on board with you..TOTALLY. You got further than I....Couldn't even get "Network Shares" enabled. However, switching to TVersity, couldn't be happier...fluid M2TS play...haven't had one stutter or drop out!

i am using wireless with xp sp3 on the PC... i didnt get any issues with my shares being found to be honest, just as soon as i tried to watch a full movie in HD it just takes a sh*t...
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post #23 of 175
10/25/09 at 2:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bubbarayhick View Post

i am using wireless with xp sp3 on the PC... i didnt get any issues with my shares being found to be honest, just as soon as i tried to watch a full movie in HD it just takes a sh*t...

Is that with "Network Shares"..? or with TVersity? I'm using WinXP SP3 also,...and TVersity's the ticket if you're having problems with streaming. I have a wired Cat6 network. I'd be curious on your improvement using TVersity using a WI-FI network.
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post #24 of 175
10/25/09 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by philnort View Post

Is that with "Network Shares"..? or with TVersity? I'm using WinXP SP3 also,...and TVersity's the ticket if you're having problems with streaming. I have a wired Cat6 network. I'd be curious on your improvement using TVersity using a WI-FI network.

I've tried Tversity..It works fine with non-HD files. But with HD files the sound either doesn't work at all or drops out after about 30 seconds. MKV files always come up with "no audio channel". So for me Tversity is useless for HD.
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post #25 of 175
10/25/09 at 2:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zetaprime View Post

I've tried Tversity..It works fine with non-HD files. But with HD files the sound either doesn't work at all or drops out after about 30 seconds. MKV files always come up with "no audio channel". So for me Tversity is useless for HD.

It might just be the difference between wired and wi-fi....or.....have you remuxed the file? As stated....I use TSmuxer and NATIVE m2ts files...never saw a need for transcoding. Just for kicks and whistles, you might try remuxing your disc with m2ts file and adjust for languages, audio as necessary, etc. I seen a number of peoples' problems with mkv files both on the original WD-TV and this second generation. ..never a problem with native m2ts files....provided your network can stream it.
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post #26 of 175
10/25/09 at 3:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by philnort View Post

It might just be the difference between wired and wi-fi....or.....have you remuxed the file? As stated....I use TSmuxer and NATIVE m2ts files...never saw a need for transcoding. Just for kicks and whistles, you might try remuxing your disc with m2ts file and adjust for languages, audio as necessary, etc. I seen a number of peoples' problems with mkv files both on the original WD-TV and this second generation. ..never a problem with native m2ts files....provided your network can stream it.

I've tried it wired and wireless. There's no difference. And I've not touched the files. Anything that plays from the USB connected hard drive ought to be able to play off the network. If it doesn't then that's a defect in the WDTV Live software and not something I should have to waste time re-muxing files for.
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post #27 of 175
10/25/09 at 5:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zetaprime View Post

I've tried it wired and wireless. There's no difference. And I've not touched the files. Anything that plays from the USB connected hard drive ought to be able to play off the network. If it doesn't then that's a defect in the WDTV Live software and not something I should have to waste time re-muxing files for.

I was getting dropouts today streaming MP3 files, so, it's not just video related. No problems transferring the files to the usb attached drive though, only streaming them.
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post #28 of 175
10/26/09 at 12:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zetaprime View Post

I've tried Tversity..It works fine with non-HD files. But with HD files the sound either doesn't work at all or drops out after about 30 seconds. MKV files always come up with "no audio channel". So for me Tversity is useless for HD.

install ac3 filter and disabled any other codec that is turned on for ac3 playback like ffdshow. i can play 1080p over wireless with ac3 640kb encodes.

to be honest i havent tried dts yet....


http://ac3filter.net/projects/ac3filter/releases
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post #29 of 175
10/26/09 at 12:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by philnort View Post

Is that with "Network Shares"..? or with TVersity? I'm using WinXP SP3 also,...and TVersity's the ticket if you're having problems with streaming. I have a wired Cat6 network. I'd be curious on your improvement using TVersity using a WI-FI network.

i am only using wireless and it works great for HD files i make as backups.

1080p mkv with x264 video and ac3 sound 640kbps work perfect with TVersity.
these encodes are bluray compatible so i suppose any m2ts remuxed to mkv should be fine too...
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post #30 of 175
10/26/09 at 4:42am
Tried Tversity and although it would play my files fine, it slowed my machine right down and wasn't very user friendly.

So I switched back to Twonky. Much better software.
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