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*Official* WD TV Live Streaming Media Player Thread - Page 77

post #2281 of 2941
12/24/12 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robnix View Post

With that much data you need some sort of a NAS. Whether it's a full PC or a standalone like a Qnap or Synology, USB drives are simply going to be an inefficient and kludgy way to manage your data.

Don't some of the newer NAS devices include some media server capabilities? Maybe just an old or cheap router could could connect some NAS to the WDTV with no WIFI except for the occasional management chores from a PC that could just connect to that network when needed? (Target advertised a N150 router for $15 last week)

CC

[Edit] Actually that was a dumb thing to say - no streaming capabilities should be needed for the WDTV to use a NAS...
Edited by cc_in_oh - 12/24/12 at 12:16pm
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post #2282 of 2941
12/25/12 at 5:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cc_in_oh View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Holiday121 View Post

I don't plan on streaming to any other devices. This will be just used to store some blurays in my theater room. I would guess between 3-6 or maybe even 9tb worth.
They will only be powered when in use. What would you suggest

You would have to unplug the WDTV to shut down portables, and may have trouble if you don't eject first. But for 9TB you're probably looking at desktops. If you need all 9TB on line every time you power up, docks don't buy you anything.

I wouldn't blindly assume a config that large would work well - If you haven't already, I would check out the WD support forum for feedback before buying the hardware...

CC

Fwiw, I have around 16k video files, 300k of photos and 7k of music. Photos and music are on a real but cheap Buffalo nas with raid. The rest are network shares, on different pcs in the house. Its about 7tb in all.

The current released firmware is fairly good.There is an acknowled bug in the media scan when it is interupted by either streaming or a service (netfix,hulu,etc). Also if a network share is disconnected it won't scan the ones in the list that are after it. You can manually rescan if needed from the media library share manager. Both issues will be fixed by the next firmware drop and the rescan and initial scanning will be faster and rescan will also improve significantly.

You can check the state of the drives in the media library/network share manager by selecting the share. A status for the drive will be either ready or disconnected, though disconnected drives won't have a rescan icon option in the drives list. Disconnected drives are not accessible and while they might show up in the media library they usually produce a not found error when trying to play them. PCs that are on for long periods (weeks) may also have problems with shared folders and may simply need reboots.

Computers with sleep settings or ms reboots, can be configured with a real ids & passwords which usually allow the unit to wake when the wdtv tries to access it. Anonymous doesn’t cut it.

I didn't post the page link for the older firmware (should you want to go back to an older version) but here it is wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5860/~/how-to-roll-back-the-firmware-on-a-wd-tv-live-hub-media-center-or-wd-tv-live

Imho the wdtv wifi performance is bearly adequate unless you have a very good (full bars) signal. Connection issues can cause stuttering and buffering during playback.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
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post #2283 of 2941
12/25/12 at 11:29am
Quick question - does this output 23.976hz AND 24.000hz properly?
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post #2284 of 2941
12/26/12 at 1:13am
Picked up one of these a few days ago to replace my Boxee and the constant dropped audio(it is going on a 5.1 setup so the lack of DTS HD on the WD TV Live is not a big deal)

I really like the thing and what it can do EXCEPT one glaring issue. The way it handles TV episodes. I have 2 drives with movies on them and one with TV. So if I add the 2 movie drives to the Media Library, I get a nice listing of all my movies via nice box art. However, if I add my TV drive to the mix, I end up with HUNDREDS of individual episodes added to my boxart list, making it a monumental task to flip thru them to find a movie.

I know you can use the Folder option to view things, but then I am left with 2 separate folders for my movies and one for TV. The viewer now needs to know where the movie they want to view is, by going to each movie directory. This isn't what I want. They ALMOST have it now, but fall just short. They DO have a TV ONLY filter, which will filter out the movies and only show TV episodes. This is great and is needed, HOWEVER, the do NOT have a MOVIES ONLY filter when you can filter out TV and only show movies. THIS is what I really think they need to add. It's gotta be something simple to add to since they know how to filter the TV shows only.

I just wanna be able to see ALL my movies ONLY when I want and if I want TV, change the filter and see ONLY TV shows. AN even better solution is to have 2 media libraries, one for TV and one for Movies. So you can set the Movie view to all files and then set the TV view to Folders or something like that.

As it stands right now I don't even have my TV episodes drive added to the library because of the mess it makes with the file listing.

How do you people with multiple movie drives handle the TV episodes in your listings?
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post #2285 of 2941
12/26/12 at 6:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck_IV View Post

How do you people with multiple movie drives handle the TV episodes in your listings?

Whatever "logical" organization suits you.

I have mine separated like this:

Kids' Movies (Basically G-Rated or TV-G stuff)
Movies 1 (Stuff up through PG)
Movies 2 (R Rated; The Kids' WD's can't access this share.)
TV Shows

.. and that's it.
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post #2286 of 2941
12/26/12 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck_IV View Post

How do you people with multiple movie drives handle the TV episodes in your listings?
Well first off I don't use the Media Library. I prefer a clean list of folders/files and have no use for cover-art. I have my TV shows organized by folder. I have a main folder for the series (i.e. LOST) then subfolders for each season. DVD sets are ripped as full disk.iso and HDTV captures are individual episodes.
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post #2287 of 2941
12/26/12 at 9:38pm
Media library does not necessarily mean the use of cover art. AFAIK you can use it to combine several drives into one and still have a list view.
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post #2288 of 2941
12/28/12 at 1:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbsidlov View Post

Fwiw, I have around 16k video files, 300k of photos and 7k of music. Photos and music are on a real but cheap Buffalo nas with raid. The rest are network shares, on different pcs in the house. Its about 7tb in all.
The current released firmware is fairly good.There is an acknowled bug in the media scan when it is interupted by either streaming or a service (netfix,hulu,etc). Also if a network share is disconnected it won't scan the ones in the list that are after it. You can manually rescan if needed from the media library share manager. Both issues will be fixed by the next firmware drop and the rescan and initial scanning will be faster and rescan will also improve significantly.
You can check the state of the drives in the media library/network share manager by selecting the share. A status for the drive will be either ready or disconnected, though disconnected drives won't have a rescan icon option in the drives list. Disconnected drives are not accessible and while they might show up in the media library they usually produce a not found error when trying to play them. PCs that are on for long periods (weeks) may also have problems with shared folders and may simply need reboots.
Computers with sleep settings or ms reboots, can be configured with a real ids & passwords which usually allow the unit to wake when the wdtv tries to access it. Anonymous doesn’t cut it.
I didn't post the page link for the older firmware (should you want to go back to an older version) but here it is wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5860/~/how-to-roll-back-the-firmware-on-a-wd-tv-live-hub-media-center-or-wd-tv-live
Imho the wdtv wifi performance is bearly adequate unless you have a very good (full bars) signal. Connection issues can cause stuttering and buffering during playback.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Great info - thanks!

Also FWIW I'm a month in now with no problems whatsoever from a 2-bar signal. My MKV's are mostly only 35MB/min. density - it's quite possible that streaming 1080p content would be a different story...

I shut down my network at night, but usually the setup option "Clear Media Library" (somewhat counter-intuitively) reconnects everything properly within a few seconds...

CC
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post #2289 of 2941
12/28/12 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck_IV View Post

Picked up one of these a few days ago to replace my Boxee and the constant dropped audio(it is going on a 5.1 setup so the lack of DTS HD on the WD TV Live is not a big deal)
I really like the thing and what it can do EXCEPT one glaring issue. The way it handles TV episodes. I have 2 drives with movies on them and one with TV. So if I add the 2 movie drives to the Media Library, I get a nice listing of all my movies via nice box art. However, if I add my TV drive to the mix, I end up with HUNDREDS of individual episodes added to my boxart list, making it a monumental task to flip thru them to find a movie.
I know you can use the Folder option to view things, but then I am left with 2 separate folders for my movies and one for TV. The viewer now needs to know where the movie they want to view is, by going to each movie directory. This isn't what I want. They ALMOST have it now, but fall just short. They DO have a TV ONLY filter, which will filter out the movies and only show TV episodes. This is great and is needed, HOWEVER, the do NOT have a MOVIES ONLY filter when you can filter out TV and only show movies. THIS is what I really think they need to add. It's gotta be something simple to add to since they know how to filter the TV shows only.
I just wanna be able to see ALL my movies ONLY when I want and if I want TV, change the filter and see ONLY TV shows. AN even better solution is to have 2 media libraries, one for TV and one for Movies. So you can set the Movie view to all files and then set the TV view to Folders or something like that.
As it stands right now I don't even have my TV episodes drive added to the library because of the mess it makes with the file listing.
How do you people with multiple movie drives handle the TV episodes in your listings?

Imagine a few years ago having your main problem be having too many movies to fit on one drive! I get your point, but if you're going to browse through them alphabetically anyway, why not just put A-? on 1 drive and ?-Z on the other? That actually might make it quicker to scroll to the one you want to play, no?

CC
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post #2290 of 2941
12/31/12 at 5:12am
A few Qs about the WD TV Live....searching for the answers is a lot harder than it sounds!

Can it automatically switch to 24hz direct for 24p encoded mkvs? What about 24p support in Netflix, or from DVD isos? Can it bitstream TrueHD or DTSMA from a mkv?

Can it play .isos? Bluray and DVD? 3D bluray?

Does it do full 1080p Netflix?
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post #2291 of 2941
12/31/12 at 6:41am
For Netflix, as far as I can tell, it always uses 1080p60. It can play DVD files fine, menus and all. BD apparently is limited to only the largest file, with no menus. I don't know about 3D.
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post #2292 of 2941
12/31/12 at 7:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by andyross63 View Post

For Netflix, as far as I can tell, it always uses 1080p60. It can play DVD files fine, menus and all. BD apparently is limited to only the largest file, with no menus. I don't know about 3D.

Can you force it to output 24hz for everything by just globally selecting that as the refresh rate?
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post #2293 of 2941
12/31/12 at 7:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelson View Post

Well first off I don't use the Media Library. I prefer a clean list of folders/files and have no use for cover-art. I have my TV shows organized by folder. I have a main folder for the series (i.e. LOST) then subfolders for each season. DVD sets are ripped as full disk.iso and HDTV captures are individual episodes.

I like it like this too.

Only I also add a cover art to the folder so each folder will have a drop down cover art. This also works for a HTPC that runs XBMC as well.
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post #2294 of 2941
1/1/13 at 7:24am
Are 23.976 fps movies output at 23.976hz or 24.000hz? Are 24.000 fps movies output at 23.976hz or 24.000hz? In other words how exactly does this player handle the two types of 24p?
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post #2295 of 2941
1/1/13 at 3:16pm
Does anyone know if Western Digital TV Live works fine with the entry Synology NAS 211j or 212j?


We are 4 persons in the household. Have 3 tv's which are planned with the WD TV Live. The main function here will be to play mkv files from the NAS through wired network.
In addition, we have various smartphones and tablets (ios, android and wp) which will be connected to the disc primarily for music. And computers for music and possibly some video, but also images and backups.

If the Synology are not recommended, suggestions for other NAS are welcome.
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post #2296 of 2941
1/1/13 at 7:04pm
I'm looking at various streamers like Roku, etc and from what little I've read I think the WD boxes with their open source firmwares are more up my alley. I'm confused about how to find the latest iteration of the WD TV Live boxes though...it seems like there has been a few discontinued ones. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction?
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post #2297 of 2941
1/1/13 at 10:02pm
Look at the WD site for model numbers, i relive the WDBHG70000NBK is the latest version. It has a much larger remote with a set of red, blue, green and yellow buttons. I own a couple of Roku Xs units and a couple of Wd Live units, both work well but are geared toward slightly different things. Roku is great if all you want is internet streamed content, it can play pictures and movies from your hard drive but not as user friendly in that aspect. The WD units are much more limited in internet streaming options, but excel at streaming content from your computer or NAS.
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post #2298 of 2941
1/2/13 at 4:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike523 View Post

I'm looking at various streamers like Roku, etc and from what little I've read I think the WD boxes with their open source firmwares are more up my alley. I'm confused about how to find the latest iteration of the WD TV Live boxes though...it seems like there has been a few discontinued ones. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction?

The current WD boxes do have Linux buried in there, yes, but in the current box it's locked down so tight that pretty much no firmware mods are available. The only really viable 3rd-party development is skins.
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post #2299 of 2941
1/2/13 at 5:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt L View Post

Look at the WD site for model numbers, i relive the WDBHG70000NBK is the latest version. It has a much larger remote with a set of red, blue, green and yellow buttons. I own a couple of Roku Xs units and a couple of Wd Live units, both work well but are geared toward slightly different things. Roku is great if all you want is internet streamed content, it can play pictures and movies from your hard drive but not as user friendly in that aspect. The WD units are much more limited in internet streaming options, but excel at streaming content from your computer or NAS.



Well shoot, I'm trying to find the best of both worlds here. smile.gif Maybe I shouldn't be looking at the WD.
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post #2300 of 2941
1/2/13 at 6:10am
How is the WD limited in internet streaming compared to the Roku boxes?
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post #2301 of 2941
1/2/13 at 7:05am
WD: Maybe 25 or 30 services
Roku: Several hundred.
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post #2302 of 2941
1/2/13 at 9:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kimare View Post

Does anyone know if Western Digital TV Live works fine with the entry Synology NAS 211j or 212j?
We are 4 persons in the household. Have 3 tv's which are planned with the WD TV Live. The main function here will be to play mkv files from the NAS through wired network.
In addition, we have various smartphones and tablets (ios, android and wp) which will be connected to the disc primarily for music. And computers for music and possibly some video, but also images and backups.
If the Synology are not recommended, suggestions for other NAS are welcome.

I have been using the WD with my Synology DS110j for the past year without any issues. On a wired network.

Regards
H
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post #2303 of 2941
1/2/13 at 11:58am
Hi guys,

Been having a read through the last few pages of this thread and decided to sign up to ask you guys for your opinion smile.gif
Been after a media player device like this for a while, and being a student, this seems like a great buy. Been using XBMC on a laptop temporarily, but can't really keep that setup going.

Have all media on external USB drives and other than basic free streaming services (Youtube etc) I have no real need for anything else. Got a few questions numbered below.

1. How ideal is this for my purpose?

2. Is the only other suitable option an Apple TV? Is there any device in the price range I could get XMBC on? (excluding Apple TV, I undertand XBMC is a no go for this device)

3. How acceptable is the interface/library setup compared to XMBC?

4. What are peoples setup regarding new files? Does this auto generate info/cover arts for files? How do you transfer new files onto the drives connected to it? (having to disconnect the drive and connect it to a PC seems a hassle, or do people tend to use network drives?)

5. Related to Q4, do you use renamer programs anywhere along the line?


A BIG thanks to anyone who can offer any advice here, the questions above have been some I've had floating around my head for a while. Certainly a newbie to this sort of setup, but one I've always wanted.
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post #2304 of 2941
1/2/13 at 1:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh92 View Post

Hi guys,
Been having a read through the last few pages of this thread and decided to sign up to ask you guys for your opinion smile.gif
Been after a media player device like this for a while, and being a student, this seems like a great buy. Been using XBMC on a laptop temporarily, but can't really keep that setup going.
Have all media on external USB drives and other than basic free streaming services (Youtube etc) I have no real need for anything else. Got a few questions numbered below.
1. How ideal is this for my purpose?
2. Is the only other suitable option an Apple TV? Is there any device in the price range I could get XMBC on? (excluding Apple TV, I undertand XBMC is a no go for this device)
3. How acceptable is the interface/library setup compared to XMBC?
4. What are peoples setup regarding new files? Does this auto generate info/cover arts for files? How do you transfer new files onto the drives connected to it? (having to disconnect the drive and connect it to a PC seems a hassle, or do people tend to use network drives?)
5. Related to Q4, do you use renamer programs anywhere along the line?
A BIG thanks to anyone who can offer any advice here, the questions above have been some I've had floating around my head for a while. Certainly a newbie to this sort of setup, but one I've always wanted.

Can't help too much (I never even heard of XMBC) but have some feedback on your #4:

I dub DVR recordings to DVD+RW, then rip to a network drive, a Seagate GoFlex, with MakeMKV. Works great, and saves me a ton of DVD+R's that I can never find when I need one. If I miss a recording, or it's pre-empted, or interrupted by some idiot's idea of "news", I record it from ABC, FOX, CBS etc. using PlayLater.

Now, unfortunately, PlayLater seems to have problems dealing with the Seagate's password protection. SO for now I have an old 750GB portable USB drive connected to the WDTV, and PlayLater records directly to it. IOW, the USB drive attached to the WDTV appears exactly as any other network drive would - even when the WDTV isn't on (has to be plugged in though of course).

So all this is a roundabout way of saying that a USB drive on the WDTV IS a network drive for all practical purposes - no need to physically attach it to a network-connected PC to migrate files to it...

CC
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post #2305 of 2941
1/2/13 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cc_in_oh View Post

Can't help too much (I never even heard of XMBC) but have some feedback on your #4:
I dub DVR recordings to DVD+RW, then rip to a network drive, a Seagate GoFlex, with MakeMKV. Works great, and saves me a ton of DVD+R's that I can never find when I need one. If I miss a recording, or it's pre-empted, or interrupted by some idiot's idea of "news", I record it from ABC, FOX, CBS etc. using PlayLater.
Now, unfortunately, PlayLater seems to have problems dealing with the Seagate's password protection. SO for now I have an old 750GB portable USB drive connected to the WDTV, and PlayLater records directly to it. IOW, the USB drive attached to the WDTV appears exactly as any other network drive would - even when the WDTV isn't on (has to be plugged in though of course).
So all this is a roundabout way of saying that a USB drive on the WDTV IS a network drive for all practical purposes - no need to physically attach it to a network-connected PC to migrate files to it...
CC
Thanks, ah so files can be transfered across the network from the PC to the drive? That'll work nicely, hows the speeds on that? It'd need to be wireless via a Homehub unless I could somehow connect the PC to the WDTV directly via Ethernet and do it that way without the router.

FYI, XBMC is an open source media centre, absolutely fantastic. If I had the money I'd just buy a custom built mini PC to run that. smile.gif
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post #2306 of 2941
1/2/13 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lordhits View Post

I have been using the WD with my Synology DS110j for the past year without any issues. On a wired network.
Regards
H

Thanks I guess I'll end up with one on those then. Thanks.
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post #2307 of 2941
1/2/13 at 2:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh92 View Post

2. Is the only other suitable option an Apple TV? Is there any device in the price range I could get XMBC on? (excluding Apple TV, I undertand XBMC is a no go for this device)

Check out Raspberry Pi, very cheap and able to run XBMC. There are able couple of reviews on youtube.
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post #2308 of 2941
1/2/13 at 4:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh92 View Post

Thanks, ah so files can be transfered across the network from the PC to the drive? That'll work nicely, hows the speeds on that? It'd need to be wireless via a Homehub unless I could somehow connect the PC to the WDTV directly via Ethernet and do it that way without the router.
FYI, XBMC is an open source media centre, absolutely fantastic. If I had the money I'd just buy a custom built mini PC to run that. smile.gif

My PC and the WDTV share the 2.4GHZ band on a Netgear N600 router (WNDR3800). A 1.4GB file was on pace to take about 9 minutes (vs. what - maybe a minute for locally attached USB2, or maybe 15 secs for USB3?) I assume going from NAS would be half that. It's not an issue for me since I only record to the WDTV drive, at a much slower rate than a file copy.

CC
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post #2309 of 2941
1/2/13 at 9:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cc_in_oh View Post

I dub DVR recordings to DVD+RW, then rip to a network drive, a Seagate GoFlex, with MakeMKV. Works great, and saves me a ton of DVD+R's that I can never find when I need one.
Dubbing to ISO would even save the DVD+RW?
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post #2310 of 2941
1/3/13 at 2:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kimare View Post

Check out Raspberry Pi, very cheap and able to run XBMC. There are able couple of reviews on youtube.
Thanks, I had looked into the Raspberry Pi actually, I couldn't seem to find any info about whether USB drives could be attached to it on top of the SD card. Not sure which I'd prefer between this or a RP even if it does.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cc_in_oh View Post

My PC and the WDTV share the 2.4GHZ band on a Netgear N600 router (WNDR3800). A 1.4GB file was on pace to take about 9 minutes (vs. what - maybe a minute for locally attached USB2, or maybe 15 secs for USB3?) I assume going from NAS would be half that. It's not an issue for me since I only record to the WDTV drive, at a much slower rate than a file copy.
CC
Thanks. Hmm decisions.
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