Western Digital HDMI USB Media Player?? (WDAVN00BN)

[herbapou]

Warning about full HD movies encode in h264 AVC

Since some h286 encoders requires a multiple of 16 pixels to encode, converting 1920x1080 movies may give an output resolution that is above full HD. Any resolution above full HD is unsupported by WDTV.

For example,Handbrake will convert 1920x1080 to 1936x1088 if you dont specify the resolution. Make sure to set 1920x1072 resolution when you encode h264 full HD movies. This resolution works fine with WDTV.

Note that I think there is a way to set h264 to do 8x8 encodes, which support 1920x1080.

[mysticgohan17]

its not that, you just gotta be sure to crop the extra 8 pixels from the bottom, then you should be able to do a perfect 1920x1080. its like padding or something. that step was in all the HD encoding guides i saw before using handbrake.

[BillV]

I will continue reading through this entire thread in case my answer is buried in it somewhere, but I thought I might get a faster reply with posting first just in case..

I purchased the WD TV HD MP last week and tried plugging it in yesterday via HDMI to my tv. When the power cable is plugged in, the power light on front comes on after a few seconds and then I see a WD boot screen on my tv. After the boot screen is displayed for 3-5 seconds, the screen goes black and my tv says 'no signal.'

My first question there is, do I need to have something plugged into the MP to display the menu on my tv? Or should I at least be seeing an empty menu, etc?

Going from there, when I plug a USB flash drive into the MP, the lights on my flash drive light up for a couple seconds (showing activity) but the USB light never lights up on the MP (and again, my tv continues to display 'no signal').

Am I doing something wrong or does it sound like I have a defective unit? I also tried pressing the 'reset' button on the side for 10 seconds like the WD KB says.

Thanks,
BillV

[festmaster]

I will continue reading through this entire thread in case my answer is buried in it somewhere, but I thought I might get a faster reply with posting first just in case..

I purchased the WD TV HD MP last week and tried plugging it in yesterday via HDMI to my tv. When the power cable is plugged in, the power light on front comes on after a few seconds and then I see a WD boot screen on my tv. After the boot screen is displayed for 3-5 seconds, the screen goes black and my tv says 'no signal.'

My first question there is, do I need to have something plugged into the MP to display the menu on my tv? Or should I at least be seeing an empty menu, etc?

Going from there, when I plug a USB flash drive into the MP, the lights on my flash drive light up for a couple seconds (showing activity) but the USB light never lights up on the MP (and again, my tv continues to display 'no signal').

Am I doing something wrong or does it sound like I have a defective unit? I also tried pressing the 'reset' button on the side for 10 seconds like the WD KB says.

Thanks,
BillV

Did you actually press the power button on the remote? Plugging the device into power does not automatically power it up.

[BillV]

Yes, I pushed the power button and the home button; nothing happened when pressing either. I also tried swapping batteries with another remote to make sure they were working. The manual says when the power light is on that the device is on. I assumed since the WD boot screen showed up that the power was on, is that not the case?

[jagabo]

What you're describing sounds like an HDMI handshake problem. Try using another output and see if that works. And, what HDTV do you have?

[BillV]

Unfortunately I've tried both ideas

I tried connecting via the included A/V cables with the same result (logo screen, then blank). I tried with two different tv's.. Insignia and Dynex.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[BillV]

Quick update... WD just replied to my trouble ticket saying I need a new unit

I will RMA this one I guess and hopefully have better luck with the new one.

Aside from that... I saw a lot of people making comments about different menus and network connectivity for future enhancements to the product. One thing I'd like to see is an eSATA port added

Also, has anyone tried linking this up to a DROBO? http://www.drobo.com

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good tutorial for noobs to the audio/video converting world? The plan is to move all of my DVDs to hdd storage and play through this WD player. I have the software that came with the player (but from reading other posts in this thread, it's apparently not that good). I also have OJOsoft DVD Ripper and Video Converter (www.ojosoft.com).

Thanks again for the helpful ideas.. if anyone has any other thoughts, by all means throw them out there.

BillV

[Supreme2k]

Autogk and Handbrake, or Xvid4PSP (among others).

Guides to the left.

[BillV]

Cool, thanks, appreciate it.

[yoda313]

I saw a lot of people making comments about different menus and network connectivity for future enhancements to the product. One thing I'd like to see is an eSATA port added

Unfortunately from my point of view network connectivity would probably increase the price. Its realitvely low price point was the reason I bought one.

However your point about esata is definitely noteworthy and would not significantly increase cost I imagine.

[herbapou]

Unfortunately I've tried both ideas

I tried connecting via the included A/V cables with the same result (logo screen, then blank). I tried with two different tv's.. Insignia and Dynex.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I got a no signal problem yesterday. I tried power on/off on the WDTV several times, didnt work. I tried unplugging / replugging the HDMI cable with no result. At some point I turn off/on the TV and the signal came back on.

[holmerz]

Hi

Got myself a WD tv HD media player today. However I cant get it to work via a HDMI connection.It works fine via the composite, but upon changing the video output setting to HDMI (auto) I lost the signal. Any ideas to what to do is much appreciated.

In advance thanks

Erik

[redwudz]

I assume you mean you switched the TV to HDMI input?

Try powering off the TV and the WD. Turn on the WD in HDMI mode, making sure your HDMI cable is properly plugged in. Then power on the TV. HDMI requires a 'handshake' where the output device communicates with the display device. And your video should be the correct resolution for HDMI, though the TV should be able to upscale. Lastly, check that it's not a PAL/NTSC problem, though that shouldn't matter.

If all this fails, try the cable with a different HDMI device like a DVD player. That should tell you if the problem is the WD. I don't have a WD player, so those are just generic suggestions.

[holmerz]

Thanks, I'll try that.

No in the menu of the WDTV you can choose eihter composite or HDMI as output.
I tried connecting my pc to the TV via HDMI with the same result, no signal.
Furthermore, when the WDTV was up and running via composite I plugged in the HDMI cable and the signal disappered!
So far it seems that problem is the either the HDMI cable or the TV, which by the way is a Sony KDL-32p2530.

any other suggestions are welcome

Erik

[holmerz]

Ok solved it....although I don't know how other than by changing the video output to HDMI and then 720p 60Hz.. then it worked.


\Erik

[jagabo]

Maybe it was set to 1080p 60 Hz before? Not all HDTVs accept that.

[redwudz]

[holmerz]

Maybe it was set to 1080p 60 Hz before? Not all HDTVs accept that.

No it was set to 'auto' so I expected it would have worked with that setting.

\Erik

[BillV]

Just wanted to provide a quick follow-up...

I received my new WD MP and it's working now

It does not work with the Drobo

And as for software, I've been using DVDFab to rip to .iso and it's been working with no problems.

Thanks again for the help!

BillV

edit: I stand corrected, this article shows how someone got the WD MP working with the Drobo.. I'm going to reformat mine and give it a shot[/i]

[BillV]

edit: I stand corrected, this article shows how someone got the WD MP working with the Drobo.. I'm going to reformat mine and give it a shot[/i]

I was able to get the WD TV player working with Drobo As the article linked to above states, you need to keep your volume(s) at 2TB (I had mine at 4TB originally). It's been working nicely

Thanks again!

BillV

[jagabo]

Interesting about the 2 TB partition limit.

[glenmike]

There is supposed to be a new firmware update on the Western Digital site but it seems the webmaster forgot to update the file. After downloading, it is the same file as the 12/08 update and not the 1.02.03 for 4/09 that is listed. I hope they figure it out soon.

[DarrellS]

It's a BETA release and not listed on the downloads page.

http://www.wdc.com/wdtvprerelease/

[jstewart]

It's a BETA release and not listed on the downloads page.

http://www.wdc.com/wdtvprerelease/

It says more support for MKV audio formats....has anyone tried this yet? I am just wondering if DTS works.

[jstewart]

I saw a lot of people making comments about different menus and network connectivity for future enhancements to the product. One thing I'd like to see is an eSATA port added

Unfortunately from my point of view network connectivity would probably increase the price. Its realitvely low price point was the reason I bought one.

However your point about esata is definitely noteworthy and would not significantly increase cost I imagine.

http://wiki.wdtv.org/doku.php?id=start

Posted this in another thread. Looks like you can hardwire it....Maybe sometime before Wireless is working.

[whooka]

I got one of these media players two weeks ago and while it does seem to work very very well (no problems playing 1080p/mkb, flac, etc) i have one horrible recurring problem which looks like a pretty sizable design flaw in the product. when i first connected it to my lcd tv and turned it on i was greeted with a loud, awful pink noise coming from my tv speakers, even with the tv volume down completely. i have the player connected via hdmi and a toslink cable to my receiver. i tried other hdmi cables, optical cables, etc, no luck. i gave up as it was frustrating and a few days later came back, turned it on, and it was fine and was that way for a week until i took it to a friend's place, where it worked fine, brought it home only to reconnect it and have the pink noise return. i did some research and it seems like the media player is sending a blank audio signal over the hdmi cable even when a toslink cable is attached to the unit. the audio options only have 'stereo' and 'digital', it needs to have an option for 'digital/hdmi' and another for 'digital/toslink' whereby selecting one disables the other. i know better tv's then mine have an option to turn off the hdmi audio input (mine does not seem to) BUT i have a playstation 3 connected to the same tv via the same setup (hdmi and toslink) and i have never had a problem with that soooooooooooo to me this is a fault inherent in the media player. i tried last night to fix it again and have had no luck so am getting to where i may return it but hate do that as when it was working properly for the week it worked very well.

any other ideas?

[whooka]

It's a BETA release and not listed on the downloads page.

http://www.wdc.com/wdtvprerelease/

It says more support for MKV audio formats....has anyone tried this yet? I am just wondering if DTS works.

DTS does work but you need to have a toslink cable going from the media player to a receiver that can decode dts. the media player itself has no dts decoder in it (hence the low price). but this thing is the first thing i've used where i play an mkv and my receiver properly detects dolby 3/2.1. impressive. i do have a horrible problem though do to their design where it's sending a blank audio signal over the hdmi cable even when a toslink cable is being used. it makes a horrible pink noise on my tv. they should've had an option to either disable hdmi audio or a seperate option to select audio digital/hdmi or audio digital/toslink and one turns the other off.

[Supreme2k]

I have my WD TV hooked up like yours (hdmi and toslink) and have never experienced that problem. It is not inherent in the player.

Maybe your WD TV is bad, or one of the other components.

[RabidDog]

fff

DTS does work

No DTS does not work.. It will get passed thru to a suitable decoder but the Unit itself can Do nothing with DTS. I doubt that this will be changed in a future firmware as its a "paid-for" option.. eg Popcorn Hour with DTS decoding is $50 MORE , than without.

Wouldn't want anyone to make the wrong buying choice!