WD Live is not fit for purpose

[Nesvic]

Ok, Guys.....Slow down this is getting a little bit out of tone. Please let's keep this thread in a decent tone or we will have to close it.

@CaphWD, since all the solution posted in this thread were not able to solve the issue you are encountering I believe we need to escalate your case to the correct department. 

[CaphWD]

Already logged Nesvic, I've had 4 support tickets going for nearly 3 weeks now. The responses range from, we know WD Smartware doesn't work but we don't have a clue how to fix it, through to reset your MBL back to factory defaults. I've already reset it to factory defaults once, copied data back to a single folder in public and got exactly the same problems again. They currently want me to reset it factory defaults again to see if this fixes WD Photos not seeing any of my photos/videos. I have to say that the support has been very poor. It's either copy and pasted stock answers, or reset it back to defaults. Neither of which is helping.

Needless to say, I feel like I'm getting nowhere with this company. Someone else has just started a new thread saying that their MBL is sat there with a flashing green light being unresponsive. Mine is currently taking 45 seconds to serve up the homepage when I connect over HTTP using its IP address and 80 seconds to respond when I click on a link. The chronic unresponsiveness makes WD2GOPro unable to open files also.

The only thing I can think of is that, since WD Smartware doesn't work, I've had to buy my own backup software. I'm using Genie Timeline Pro which is working great, but it copies all my files to a single folder on the Public share. This folder holds a copy of most of the files my HDD in the same folder structure which means that a lot of my files are 9, 10 even 11 folders down. The MBL doesn't by any chance have a problem with deeply nested files does it? I'm probably clutching at straws here but when all I've done is copy files on to the unit, I don't really have a lot else to go on.

[Myron]

Maybe tempting fate ..

My MyBook Live is operating exactly as it should. Been on for number of weeks and all is fine.

[ghardy2k]

that was happening with mine....did you have wd 2go enabled for web access?

i had an address from china hitting mine hard, trying to download my entire 300gb of stuff, and cratering my network.

[CaphWD]

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ghardy2k wrote:

that was happening with mine....did you have wd 2go enabled for web access?

i had an address from china hitting mine hard, trying to download my entire 300gb of stuff, and cratering my network.

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OK, that's pretty worrying. I do indeed have WD2GO enabled for web access, it's a big part of why I bought the unit.

I think I'm getting somewhere with the unit now. Twice I've backed up my 125GB to the unit and twice it has gone crazy, become unresponsive and constantly seems to be doing something. Twice I've had to factory reset it. This time I disabled Twonky before backing up the 125GB and it hasn't slowed down at all. It goes to sleep when it should and doesn't wake up when it shouldn't.

So, having removed WD Smartware and disabled Twonky, I seem to have a workable NAS. I really wanted the backup software to work, but having spent an extra 25 quid on some different software I'm sorted although I feel like I've been ripped off by WD. I really wanted the Twonky server to work because I've got an Xbox 360 but I guess I'm going to have to live without it. Now if only I could get WD Photos to show my photos ... but that's a whole other support ticket.

So, is it fit for purpose? No, clearly not, and I'm not basing that on just my experiences. Maybe, when they sort out the software/firmware they'll be on to a winner, but given that WD Smartware hasn't worked for nearly 2 years, I won't be holding my breath.

[CaphWD]

I've had confirmation from WD Support that upgrading to the latest firmware causes a bug that can cause the MBL to malfunction. They have not yet tracked down this bug. It would seem that at least in my case the malfunctioning can be triggered by simply copying files to the Public share. As I've already mentioned, turning off the Twonky server prevents the MBL failing in my case.

Why has WD not publicly admitted this? Why is it not mentioned on the WD MBL Firmware download page? If I'd have known this I wouldn't have updated and I would have waited until it was fixed.

[Frayed_Ends · Accepted solution]

I've read through this entire post and am not surprised that there are other issues with this drive.

Hindsight tells me that instead of buying a 2TB network drive that does not work at all, I should have bought

a couple of 2TB drives and put them in a spare PC setup as a file server. I would have had some change in my pocket

along with probably twice the storage but most importantly...RELIABILITY. Not to mention all the hours this

product has consumed.

The bottom line is this...

Your average user ( and I am far from your average user) will simply plug the drive in and expect it to work, period.

When it tells you it needs to update itself most users will allow it to update itself, period. Imagine a 69 year old couple wanting to store thier grandchildren's photos etc on this virus-like product. Go ahead and tell them to get into the back door and re-configure the linux based server that is on the MBL... Are you serious?

I bought this drive because I wanted storage and I did not want to do exactly what I have been doing. Trying to get this

inferior code ridden product to work. But it does look impressive sitting on the shelf. Makes a great paper weight....expensive though. Just be sure not to power it up and it will work just fine.

[CaphWD]

Frayed_Ends, you have summed it up so perfectly in that post that I have marked it as a solution.

WD need a major reshuffle. Whoever is in charge of programming needs to be cauterised. WD will be hemorrhaging customers because of this person and until there is a major shakeup the company will continue to suffer.

[Frayed_Ends]

Well unfortunately I bought this product from Dell. And after speaking with them at length they will not accept it as a return since I've had it for more than 21 days. I tried to explain to them that it's taken me more than 21 days to figure out what it was that has been dragging my network down, that plus the fact that none of my PC's can play videos that are stored locally when this MBL virus is running. 

I'm wondering if it's worth it to crack the case open and remove the drive. At least that way I'll have something that

is useable, although at $249 for a 2TB drive is kind of steep. I've also noticed that the drive is now nearly half the price it was when it first came out. 

Then again perhaps just putting it in the trash cutting my loses and staying away from WD seems to be the best answer. 

And now Dell also, I've bought three Laptops and a desktop along with a laser printer, home theater system etc...

These big companies are only interested in their bottom line profit. Time to go back and building my own PC's. That's the only way you'll know what you are getting. 

I was thinking about Seagate's 3TB NAS drive, but that too seems to be riddled with problems too. 

[Myron]

Whoever designed the MyBook Live with atrocious and sub-standard recovery procedures really needs to be sacked!

For example...  A USB port was took out, but that USB port could have been used to plug-in a USB stick with a firmwate file on it so to un-brick the MBL and the absolute minamalist use of the reset button (W.D.s trying to address this) begs belief!