WDTV Live unable to obtain working IP address while other devices work fine

[meero]

Have had my WDTV Live for a few months now. In most respects it work fine, but in all this time I've still not got the network to work - pretty much at all.

When I connect the WDTV Live with cable to my Linksys WAG54GS, I can't get even basic network connection to work; the network LEDs on the back of the device blinks rapidly for a moment, then the network settings change from all zeros. Most of the time it change to

IP address: 169.254.57.205
Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0
Gateway: 0.0.0.0
DNS: 0.0.0.0

Apparently 169.254.57.205 is a special IP address sometimes used if no real address can be obtained, to allow the creation of a small local Windows network with no Internet connection, so no internet access with this dummy IP.

Sometimes (rarely) it change to

IP address: 192.168.1.106
Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.1
DNS: 192.168.1.1

which looks about right for my network (my router is 192.168.1.1). Still no network connection. Sometimes the DNS is set to 212.159.6.10 which I think is my ISPs actual DNS. With this latter setting I did briefly have a working connection; I could ping the WDTV, view its content by browsing \\192.168.1.106\ from my PC, and even view some YouTube videos, but it only lasted for a few minutes. With the DNS 192.168.1.1 I also briefly had a connection once; I could see the description of some YouTube videos, but no actual videos, and it only lasted for a minute. Configuring the network settings manually yields no better result.

The above is when I just plug the network cable in and view the network settings from the "Network setup" screen. When I press the "Automatic" button on that screen, most of the time I can't get an IP address but sometimes it completes successfully, but still can't access the network. When selecting "Check connection" it most often fail on the "DNS Server", but even on the few occasions the connection checks out it still doesn't actually work.

Looking at my router's "ARP/RARP Table" page, the WDTV Live does not show up (while my PC, iPod, and IP-phone does). This makes me thing there's something very wrong with the way the WDTV Live presents itself to my network, but I can't figure out what, especially since most preople seems to have no problem obtaining an IP for the device.

Starting to get desperate now. Any ideas? Should I just try to get it replaced (can this really be a hardware problem with my particular device)? Or is it a problem with my routher (even though I've never had any problem connecting other deives)?

[meero · Accepted solution]

It appears the network chip of my WDTV Live is incredibly sensitive to overheating. This explains the apparent intermittent nature of the problem too.

To confirm, I've no repeatedly refrigerated the unit and after each time the network works flawlessly for almost exactly 10 minutes. Then the network connection drops, until I've cooled the unit again. The troubling thing is that when the connection drops, the unit is not the least hot to the touch. Apparently the networking hardware is incredibly sensitive!

Sending the unit back to the shop. Might ask for a store credit.

[ptricks]

It sounds like you have a  box with bad solder joints. Bad solder joints make or break depending on temperature . It isn't uncommon at all for surface mount parts like those used in the WDTV Live. 

I would exchange it.

[jklobo]

I wonder if this is a batch problem, because I have the same issue except I have not used the refrigerator.  I just let it cool down for a couple hours.  Since it's been more than 30 days since I've bought mine it looks like I can only RMA it.

[Zetty]

Sounds like you already exhauted all on-screen setups with the routers/WDTV/computer .... Have you tried a different cable ?  Magirnal cables or connections may cause intermittent problems and hard to troubleshoot.  I would try one of the known good cables to see what happen.

[astph]

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meero wrote:

It appears the network chip of my WDTV Live is incredibly sensitive to overheating. This explains the apparent intermittent nature of the problem too.

To confirm, I've no repeatedly refrigerated the unit and after each time the network works flawlessly for almost exactly 10 minutes. Then the network connection drops, until I've cooled the unit again. The troubling thing is that when the connection drops, the unit is not the least hot to the touch. Apparently the networking hardware is incredibly sensitive!

Sending the unit back to the shop. Might ask for a store credit.

---

so via LAN CABLE or USB WIFI ADAPTOR, you get the same result, intermittent connection?

[Kexxx83]

I found out that I might have a similar problem: I own a WDTV Live HD player for about 2 months now and last night I lost internet connection (I mean I can browse the attached hdds thru the network, but youtube doesn't work, the dns checking gets stuck but the automatic configuration works (it properly gives me an internal ip, gateway and the external dns). I also tryied the manual configuration, it gives me the ok, but yet again...at the network checking it can't get thru dns checking. I've unplugged the WDTV Live now to give it time to cool off for a few days (I'm not at home right now, and it was pretty warm) and when I return I'll plug it back in, do a factory reset and I will check if the problem persists.

[razvanpas]

+1 meero

Any ideas beside RMA?

Edt:

Check this out:

http://community.wdc.com/t5/General-Discussions/MKV-issue-FW-1-03-35-V-Is-my-TV-set-a-better-media-p...