Western Digital TV HD Media Player 1080p - €100 delivered [Expansys]

IgsTer · 26-10-2009 02:14PM

Noticed some people saying that it doesnt play movies that have DTS and others say it does due to it not being able to decode the signal?

Looking on picking one of these up and just want to make sure itll play the sound, I have a seperate audio receiver which has coaxial/optical ports and it has the DTS logo on it so im guessing it decodes the DTS. Will I be ok?

Voodu Child · 26-10-2009 02:57PM

IgsTer wrote: »

Noticed some people saying that it doesnt play movies that have DTS and others say it does due to it not being able to decode the signal?

Looking on picking one of these up and just want to make sure itll play the sound, I have a seperate audio receiver which has coaxial/optical ports and it has the DTS logo on it so im guessing it decodes the DTS. Will I be ok?

Yep. The WD TV doesnt decode DTS, but it supports DTS passthrough via the optical socket. So it'll send the DTS stream straight to your decoder, and if your decoder supports it, you should be fine. Ive played lots of movies with DTS that way, just using a normal surround system. Pretty much any good surround system should support DTS and have an optical input.

The newer WD TV-Live does support DTS decoding.

IgsTer · 26-10-2009 04:54PM

Voodu Child wrote: »

Yep. The WD TV doesnt decode DTS, but it supports DTS passthrough via the optical socket. So it'll send the DTS stream straight to your decoder, and if your decoder supports it, you should be fine. Ive played lots of movies with DTS that way, just using a normal surround system. Pretty much any good surround system should support DTS and have an optical input.

The newer WD TV-Live does support DTS decoding.

Thanks for the info, yeah ive just checked and it can decode DTS so hopefully im good to go and wont have any issues.

Just looking at the newer live model and for 50 euro extra I dont think it would be worth it, I dont need the networking ability or DTS decoding now either seemingly, only other differences I can see is that it has 1.3 hdmi whereas this one only has 1.2 hdmi and the site states quicker bootup times and other load times, wierd since its the same hardware.

26-10-2009 09:57PM

Just another question regarding DTS playback.
My receiver has HDMI ports, so do I simply attach the WD TV to the receiver
via HDMI cable, or do I also need optical cable?
Thanks

datk · 26-10-2009 10:17PM

I've been road testing one of these and have had a few problems. I had a mix of avi and mp4 files - I watched one avi file - a home movie off a digital camera and went to watch the next one (ie same camera, shot same day etc so the same format) and it said it didn't support the format and refer to manual. I went back to the one I had just watched and was told it couldn't be played also - even though it just had. Same with mp4 and avi programs.

Anyone had similar problems. I've tried out two different USB keys and my iPod Classic. What am I doing wrong?

coldfire1x · 26-10-2009 10:39PM

^^ Never had any such problem.

bucks73 · 27-10-2009 05:23AM

465 wrote: »

Just another question regarding DTS playback.
My receiver has HDMI ports, so do I simply attach the WD TV to the receiver
via HDMI cable, or do I also need optical cable?
Thanks

The HDMI should work fine. Make sure digital is selected in the audio output on media player.

bucks73 · 27-10-2009 05:24AM

datk wrote: »

I've been road testing one of these and have had a few problems. I had a mix of avi and mp4 files - I watched one avi file - a home movie off a digital camera and went to watch the next one (ie same camera, shot same day etc so the same format) and it said it didn't support the format and refer to manual. I went back to the one I had just watched and was told it couldn't be played also - even though it just had. Same with mp4 and avi programs.

Anyone had similar problems. I've tried out two different USB keys and my iPod Classic. What am I doing wrong?

Never had a problem either. Have you updated the firmware?

Luckycharms_74 · 27-10-2009 10:23AM

They have it from Amazon for about €75 including free delivery

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-1080P-Media-Player/dp/B001ILFDCK

Lenny · 27-10-2009 12:28PM

lads regarding the DTS output..
I have a samsung le46a686 tv,
it has the optical conenction in the back of the tv,
can I connect the the opitcal connection to the wdhd and the tv and then they sound will be decoded through the tv, I don't have an amp and hate having to convert them over from dts

Soarer · 27-10-2009 12:35PM

I don't know that tv specifically Lenny, but I'd imagine that that's an optical out.

Could be wrong, but there's a 50:50 chance I'm right!

madmoe · 27-10-2009 01:10PM

Hi all,
I am gonna buy the new Live WD HD TV unit but I have a question. If I connect this via HDMI to my Sony 32 inch TV and my TV is connected to a Sony DAV-DZ260 via HDMI will I get the surround sound without having to use the optical out on the WD HD TV Live? With the original WD ND TV that I had the only way I could get the surround sound was to connect the optical out of the WD HD TV to the optical in on my amplifier as it did no do the decoding itself.

I have a PS3 and would like to have the optical in on the DAV-DZ260 free to use it with the PS3.

Cheers,
M

Edit: Did I ask the same question as 465 did above??

27-10-2009 04:38PM

bucks73 wrote: »

The HDMI should work fine. Make sure digital is selected in the audio output on media player.

Execellant thanks,I assume this will also work for the 5.1 surround sound?

banchang · 28-10-2009 02:01AM

basquille wrote: »

Wahey.. sat down tonight and finally got wireless working on my WDTV.

Takes plenty of trial and error.

If you bought the D-Link DWL-G122 (Rev C) I linked to earlier on EBay, I can help you get it sorted if needs be but bear it mind, it does only work using WEP 64 / WEP 128.

Yes I did & its lying idle ever since - would appreciate your help basq.

Can you pls describe ?

Tks

bucks73 · 28-10-2009 04:42AM

465 wrote: »

Execellant thanks,I assume this will also work for the 5.1 surround sound?

Yep, the receiver will decode the audio signal.

Basq · 28-10-2009 10:22AM

banchang wrote: »

Yes I did & its lying idle ever since - would appreciate your help basq.

Can you pls describe ?

Tks

I've uploaded my working firmware here: http://www.basquille.net/WDTV_Firmware.zip (18 MB)

I'm using the latest WDLXTV firmware.

The only things you need to change is in the net.config file. I've indicated that you need to input your wireless SSID and WEP key.

ifconfig rausb0 up
iwconfig rausb0 essid <SSID> key "<long WEP Key>"

Ensure your SSID is not in quotes, and your WEP key is.

Bear in mind, it does seem to only work on WEP64 / WEP128.. couldn't get it work on WPA or WPA2. Never tried open. It should work with DHCP although I have static parameters defined in my net.config file.

Let me know how you get on, and best of luck.

The Sparrow · 28-10-2009 01:56PM

basquille wrote: »

Wahey.. sat down tonight and finally got wireless working on my WDTV.

What exactly does this achieve? Can you stream video files from a server or computer over your network and if so what is the quality like? Can you stream large .mkv HD files?

Valentia · 28-10-2009 02:03PM

Does this play x264 files?Sorry if it has been asked already.

Basq · 28-10-2009 02:08PM

The Sparrow wrote: »

Can you stream video files from a server or computer over your network and if so what is the quality like?

Yep, quality is same as playing them off a connected HDD.

The Sparrow wrote: »

Can you stream large .mkv HD files?

You can stream 1080p fine.. but it all depends on your specific dongle and network setup. Using NFS shares is faster than using CIFS/SAMBA (which tend to be a bit slower though).

You can also upload files via FTP so you don't even need to disconnect your drive. And you can install a web interface on the WDTV (with access to RSS feeds, weather, YouTube beta stages, Apple Trailers etc).

The Sparrow · 28-10-2009 02:19PM

Wow that sounds great. Particularly the ability to upload files by FTP. I'm gonna try getting this up and running later. I bought the wireless dongle that was recommended earlier in this thread but got completely lost trying to set it up so I'll give it another bash tonight.

Basq · 28-10-2009 02:22PM

The Sparrow wrote: »

Particularly the ability to upload files by FTP.

Exact reason I got it!

The Sparrow wrote: »

I bought the wireless dongle that was recommended earlier in this thread but got completely lost trying to set it up so I'll give it another bash tonight.

Yeah, I was frustrated but the whole fact that my wireless network uses WPA is what threw me off. Only WEP is supported on this particular dongle.

But download my firmware and follow my instructions above.. you should get it working.

It's worth mentioning for some reason the files / firmware will work on my 64MB USB key but it will not work on my 320GB drive. So maybe try a smaller USB key if you can't get it up and running.

Basq · 28-10-2009 02:24PM

Valentia wrote: »

Does this play x264 files?Sorry if it has been asked already.

It does indeed (but it has no DTS support, so no sound on x264 with DTS audio, unless you connect via HDMI or optical audio to a receiver. Than the receiver will do the DTS sound for you).

Torres09 · 28-10-2009 05:41PM

beanian wrote: »

http://wdtvforum.com/
wealth of information & applications for your WDTV at the above link

Has anybody had any success in getting movie artwork to work with their WDTV?

Im going round in circles trying to get any of them to work from the WDTV Forum's, as most of the apps are in .bin files and my pc cant seem to open them.......

Any tips/help appreciated.......

Voodu Child · 28-10-2009 06:42PM

Torres09 wrote: »

Has anybody had any success in getting movie artwork to work with their WDTV?

Im going round in circles trying to get any of them to work from the WDTV Forum's, as most of the apps are in .bin files and my pc cant seem to open them.......

Any tips/help appreciated.......

What do you mean by movie artwork? Normal movie thumbnails (that works on any WDTV), or special full-screen artwork (that only works on custom firmwares) ?

Torres09 · 28-10-2009 07:40PM

basquille wrote: »

TViXiE?

Looking to get this to work...as easy as possible, please..

i think it only works with the custom firmware, however my head is wrecked trying................

Do-more · 28-10-2009 08:50PM

**NOOB ALERT**

I have an LG combo HD-DVD/Blu ray drive and I have discovered that if I upgrade the OS on that PC to Win 7 there seems to be no software available to play the HD-DVD's.

So if I rip my HD-DVD's to a hard drive will the WD TV media player be able to play them? Or is there a cheaper solution to this specific problem?

The Sparrow · 28-10-2009 09:21PM

basquille wrote: »

Exact reason I got it!

Yeah, I was frustrated but the whole fact that my wireless network uses WPA is what threw me off. Only WEP is supported on this particular dongle.

But download my firmware and follow my instructions above.. you should get it working.

It's worth mentioning for some reason the files / firmware will work on my 64MB USB key but it will not work on my 320GB drive. So maybe try a smaller USB key if you can't get it up and running.

So I seem to be stuck. I downloaded the firmware above and changed the net config file as above. I upgraded the firmware ok and inserted the wireless dongle into one of the usb ports. But No IP address comes up.

So a couple of questions if I may...

Do I need to do anything with the wireless dongle?
when entering the SSID and WEP code do I remove the < >
What is a "long WEP Code"?? Mine is 13 digits long.

Basq · 28-10-2009 09:23PM

Do-more wrote: »

**NOOB ALERT**

I have an LG combo HD-DVD/Blu ray drive and I have discovered that if I upgrade the OS on that PC to Win 7 there seems to be no software available to play the HD-DVD's.

The latest PowerDVD appears to play them from a quick Google.

The Sparrow wrote: »

So I seem to be stuck. I downloaded the firmware above and changed the net config file as above. I upgraded the firmware ok and inserted the wireless dongle into one of the usb ports. But No IP address comes up.

No IP address came up for me first time round.. but check in System Settings --> About. It might be there now!

Also another way to know if it's communicating is if the two lights on the dongle. One of them ('Act') goes solid and the other ('Link') is flashing - this'll flash when powered on.. so look out for 'Act' to go solid.

The Sparrow wrote: »

Do I need to do anything with the wireless dongle?

Nope!

The Sparrow wrote: »

when entering the SSID and WEP code do I remove the < >

Yes, that was used as a marker. Sure I'll give you my network settings (slightly changed the key)... but network is the same!

iwconfig rausb0 essid 19HF1312 key "5282f32abcb60594049b14b325"

19HF1312 is my network name and the bit in quotes is my network key.. the quotes are meant to be there.

The Sparrow wrote: »

What is a "long WEP Code"?? Mine is 13 digits long.

Depends on your network setup and WEP strength (WEP 64 is probably 13 digits, as WEP 128 as indicated in my key above is 26).

Try replacing my "5282f32abcb60594049b14b325" with your 13 digit key.

If your code doesn't look like that (scrambled looking / or "hexadecimal") and is plain text instead, you'd simply prefix the key above with an 's:', like below:

iwconfig rausb0 essid 19HF1312 key "s:yourkey"

(replace yourkey with your plain text ket obviously)

The Sparrow · 28-10-2009 09:53PM

Thanks Basq. This may be a lost cause though.

According to my router the WEP key is actually Wep 128 encryption. I added s: to it so it now reads

rausb0 essid BTVOYAGER2110-9C key "s:65cg2352x6wc5"

I've changed some digits in the key:) But it's not connecting. The Link light is flashing every couple of secs on the dongle but the act light is blank.

I'm lost...:o

Basq · 28-10-2009 10:00PM

No...

If it's hexadecimal (which it is), take out the s:

i.e put it as:

rausb0 essid BTVOYAGER2110-9C key "65cg2352x6wc5"

EDIT: Have you 'iwconfig' before this 'rausb0' in your .net config? Or did it just get clipped off when you pasted the above. it should be:

iwconfig rausb0 essid BTVOYAGER2110-9C key "65cg2352x6wc5"

Western Digital TV HD Media Player 1080p - €100 delivered [Expansys]

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