WDTV Live having trouble with full HD playback over network

[mortifikator]

Hi everyone,

I have a problem with my new WDTV Live media player (the second generation). I have connected it to my PC through a Thomson router, I use media from there through Windows 7 shared folders. Ever since I bought the player, I have had bad experience playing full HD MKV files over the network. When I play the file, it takes about a minute to start it (although I guess this is kinda normal). But then after it starts, after a few seconds the framerate drops to about 1 frame per second, and the only cure I've come up with is to stop the playback, and then Resume from the menu - only then the playback can stabilize. And if I ever, during playback, push Pause, when I continue, the same thing happens, and then I have to do the same procedure all over again.

I first thought that maybe it's because of the bandwidth of the network link, so  I shut down the torrent program (which obviously takes up most of my bandwidth) and I tried again; same thing happens. I even tried to monitor the link throughput, and the usage was never over 15% during playback - so obviusly the link is not the problem.

Is this a common glitch with this media player, is it perhaps due to  firmware (I have the latest version installed, though), or is it maybe something else? Because in all reviews of WDTV Live I've never seen or heard anything like this, so I'm just wondering before I take it back to the store.

Thanks 

[richUK]

How is your player connected - wired or wifi?

[ddichiera]

Just to say I'm having pretty much the same problem as you, see my post here:

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Networking/Poor-Blu-ray-playback-from-Network-Share/td-p/3518...

One thing we seem to have in common is the Win 7 shares...

[mortifikator]

@richUK: Wired, but I've tried it through WiFi, the same thing happens!

@ddichiera: We have exactly the same problem!

The strange thing is that it does not happen on all MKV files, only some of them (which is most, unfortunately). I cant' see any pattern to this, it just seems to be random.

And the movies are all playing fine when I play them from a USB hard drive, so its obviously not a codec issue, but rather a network issue.

Oh, and there's another interesting thing - I have tried to plug the ethernet cable directly to ethernet card in my computer, so to try ad-hoc connection instead of a connection through a router, and this results in media player not being able to establish a connection.

[mortifikator]

Does anyone know if this is a known issue, like a bug or something, or maybe it is an error just on some devices. I would change it under warranty, but I'm not sure if this would solve anything, or the replacement device would act the same way?

I've seen video reviews of this device on Youtube, and there is no mention of this whatsoever. 

[mortifikator · Accepted solution]

I solved it!

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/search/1/a_id/5385/c/130/p/208,393

Apparently, the Samba network protocol, which is used by WDTV for network sharing, does not support high bitrate video streaming. The workaround is using a media server program, then accessing full HD videos through Media Server option on the WDTV. I would recommend installing PS3 media server, it's free and IMO it is great, it understands WDTV automatically without any problem, and also the video reproduction is very smooth, and the libraries look quite decent.

[ddichiera]

Thanks for finding that out.

I suspected it was a bitrate issue.

I already use DVBViewer media server which I configured to feed the WDTVLive and seems to work ok.

Interestingly, I'm now able to play files directly via network share from the drive which feeds the media server (which previously I couldn't). I wonder if the media server is "helping" in some way?

[mike27oct]

---

mortifikator wrote:

I solved it!

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/search/1/a_id/5385/c/130/p/208,393

Apparently, the Samba network protocol, which is used by WDTV for network sharing, does not support high bitrate video streaming. The workaround is using a media server program, then accessing full HD videos through Media Server option on the WDTV. I would recommend installing PS3 media server, it's free and IMO it is great, it understands WDTV automatically without any problem, and also the video reproduction is very smooth, and the libraries look quite decent.

---

Interesting thread here; especially above with WD FAQ link. 

As anyone with a Win7 PC knows, the Windows Media Player (WMP) within "comes out of the box" setup as a media server and our WD Live players see the Win 7 PC that way and as a Network share.

But, what about an XP or VIsta PC that only shows on the WD as a Networlk share and not also a server?  I never used the XP machines to play media through a network until I got the WD and had to set up the home network more completely to share and all.  So what did I know about WMP except elementary stuff.  Heck, I have iTunes to play my music anyway!

Well, there is a way to set up the older PCs as a DLNA media server.  I just found this link:

http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=35037&forum=70 and followed the instructions there, and now my XP machine is a media server, too; WMP found the WD player and added it to a list, and the WD now sees the XP machine as both a share and a media server.  I will have to explore this new discovery to see how it can help.

 Interestingly, the tab in WMP you click on  to set up with is called "media sharing" (not serving) so the help file of WMP wasn't to helpful when looking up "media server": but there are lots of help tabs there under "media sharing" to read through for more info.

[Redwood]

I experienced the same issue and found this discussion for an excellent explantion. Thank You!

I don't want to keep my PC on (as a media server) all the time. Instead, a NAS with a decent media server is preferred.

I notice that WD TV Live can handle 5mbps bitrate but has some trouble with 16mbps bitrate over network. Does anyone know how high (bitrate) can the WD TV Live handle (between 5 and 16)?

[adw_uk]

you cant plug a standard LAN cable into the PC you would need a crossover cable.

i have no issues playing any MKV's (except for two 3D titles) but my network is gigabit and im streaming from a 19TB QNAP NAS.

have you got a mate with a similar setup so he could try one of your files?