HUGE bug in 1.06.15 [ Edited ]

[Pacman2011]

Found a huge bug in firmware 1.06.15

After using this firmware for about a day I found that one of my movies had a size of zero bytes! I deleted the file and did'nt think more of it.

But after several days of use, I found that I now have 7 movie files that are zero bytes!! **bleep**???

I've had the wdtv live for about a year, hoping that wd would release a somewhat decent firmware. But each release introduces new bugs. Things that worked in previous releases is not working anymore (like autoframerate)

But now my wdtv is deleting my files???

How can this happen? How can wd keep releasing faulty firmwares all the time??? It's not just one faulty firmware. It's like 80-90% of firmwares that have huge bugs that make the majority of users downgrade.

I'm going to sell this peice of bleep on ebay....

I'm so dissapointed with this device!

[RoofingGuy]

Are you "Eject"ing your drives?

Or are you letting them become corrupted, and then the disk tools are truncating the corrupt files?

[Pacman2011]

When I copy new files to the drive I eject the drive when it has finished.

When I just watch a movie, I turn the power of at the power outlet just like I have done since I bought. It's never been a problem before. When playing a movie, no data is written to disk so there is no 'dirty cache' that need to be flushed before shutdown.

[RoofingGuy]

The file isn't "written" to, but the file handles that are opened in order to read the file still need to be properly closed.

That's why even if you try to "Safely Remove" a USB drive from Windows, it can't do it if files are still open (even for reads).  All the handles have to be properly released.

Just turning off the power strip, without letting the WDTV close things properly, is kinda bound to cause all kinds of corrupt files and assorted errors.

It's not so much that file system errors were never being generated before... it's just that previous firmwares didn't scan the file system's integrity when first booted.

[kevinmd88]

WDTV = **bleep**.

[Pacman2011]

Like I said I have never had any problems with that in the past. I've had loads of other problems that kept me hoping that wd will release a better firmware some day.

That's a major step back in this new firmware. I can't live with this buggy player. I have no hopes that wd is ever going to release a firmware without major bugs or "features" like deleting my files.

[TonyPh12345]

It's not a bug if you don't do what you're supposed to.

Whether or not it did that before an upgrade is irrelevent.   It equates to pure luck.

If you do NOT properly dismount attached storage before killing the power, you are begging for problems.

And yes, the WD *DOES* write to the file system every time you plug it in, and every time you watch a movie:

The Media Library, Thumb Caches, and Resume-point tables are all write-files. 

So the File Allocation Table (or whatever equivalent is used in your particular format)  *is* undergoing change, and if you don't give it a chance to flush the write cache, many bad things can happen.

It is the same for *EVERY* computer or device that uses hard disk drives of ANY form or flavor, and in WD's case, it is SPECIFICALLY documented on page 9, 21, 31 and 32 of the user manual:

"To prevent data loss, it is highly recommended that you first press the EJECT button on the remote control before removing a USB device. "  (emphasis mine)

And yes, powering it off is the same as forcefully removing the drive.

But, before we get all wrapped around the axle, just try it.    If you STILL have problems with corrupted files, even though you're religiously ejecting it safely, then you HAVE found a bug and it needs to be reported.   But if the problem goes away, then you've found the solution.

[WDTVUser]

This issue has always confused me.

Is it necessary to "Eject" before shutting down using the remote, or just when removing power to the WDTV?

[Rider]

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WDTVUser wrote:

This issue has always confused me.

Is it necessary to "Eject" before shutting down using the remote, or just when removing power to the WDTV?

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That is actually a question that I have too....   If you hit the remote button to "turn it off", are the drives actually ejected via software, or is power to the drives simply removed?  Or non of the above?  The remote power button, unless I'm mistaken, doesn't actually turn the unit off, it just goes into a low power state.

[TonyPh12345]

It depends on the box.

Live+ actually fully shuts down.

The EARLIER Lives go into a low-power state.

The LATER Lives fully shut down.

Easiest way to tell the difference between the two is that the EARLY Live boxes booted in about 5 seconds from "standby."

The later ones take almost a minute.