[fizl]

Continuing from here

[Andy Clark]

zAndy1 sounds like you had "fun"
My thoughts are:
1) Connect the HDD directly to the WDTV and select content source as My Media Library (make sure Media Library is turned on in settings)
2) If you want the box to auto scans the files then make sure that you have set it up to do so - as in go to Media Library in settings and choose Auto. (Personally I do mine manually) You can choose for it to search in standby only etc.
3) Ensure TV shows are labelled as follows: Seriesname.S01.E01 - so Dexter would be Dexter.S01E01 for the first ever episode. This is the only way that naming TV shows works.
4) Make sure you have filtered your settings to show you what you want - Press the green button. If you have enabled the Media Library you will be able to aggregate the files to show you your media based upon where you have told the box the files are.

One things well worth doing is to download a new theme, I use Alaska Resurface (check out the official WDTV forums) as this speeds the box up. To add a theme - see the excellent post a few up from doowruc

Hope that helps.

[boxer29]

Just ordered one
Thinking its. Good media player
So far have
Vbridge
Emtec hd cube with 1 tb hdd
No this
Just how to set it up to my nas and internet Got an amp sony
Will it do xbmc as well
Thanks

[Andy Clark]

XMBC = No it will not.

[zAndy1]

Originally Posted by Andy Clark

zAndy1 sounds like you had "fun"
My thoughts are:
1) Connect the HDD directly to the WDTV and select content source as My Media Library (make sure Media Library is turned on in settings)
2) If you want the box to auto scans the files then make sure that you have set it up to do so - as in go to Media Library in settings and choose Auto. (Personally I do mine manually) You can choose for it to search in standby only etc.
3) Ensure TV shows are labelled as follows: Seriesname.S01.E01 - so Dexter would be Dexter.S01E01 for the first ever episode. This is the only way that naming TV shows works.
4) Make sure you have filtered your settings to show you what you want - Press the green button. If you have enabled the Media Library you will be able to aggregate the files to show you your media based upon where you have told the box the files are.

One things well worth doing is to download a new theme, I use Alaska Resurface (check out the official WDTV forums) as this speeds the box up. To add a theme - see the excellent post a few up from doowruc

Hope that helps.

Oh I had fun alright Had another quick go this morning and I think I've got a bit further with it. Didn't realise there were options about the media library in the system settings so went in there, turned automatic scraping on and added my TV Shows folder from there and it seems to have done the trick . I can now go into the Videos section and set it to 'Media Library' and it only shows the Movies and TV Shows folders , the TV Shows folder is just a blank folder though, is there any way to get the icon to show as something other than a blank folder icon? I assume using the Media Library is the way to go then, the movies and TV Shows seemed to get cover art etc so that looked promising. Only had 10 mins or so this morning so will have another look tonight. Is there only one place the 'Get content info' option appears as I couldn't see it for the life of me while I was in the 'Videos' section.
I might hook my USB HDD up direct to the WDTV but I'm using it for extra storage for my PC as well at the moment and I assume if I hook it up to the USB port on the WDTV it will show everything on there (there's some content I'd rather everyone didn't see if you know what I mean ). Is there a way of hiding particular folders or does it just go off and find all the media files on the HDD when you connect it?
Anyway it looked a bit more promising after this mornings 10 minute play around so hopefully tonight I'll get it sorted. I want to end up with a frontend where I select Videos , I then get a selection between Movies and TV Shows and when I select one of those it shows all the movies or shows listed across the screen with their coverart etc that I can scroll through. Oh I think also the individual folders for the TV Shows were just showing as blank folder icons (I have a seperate folder for each Series within the TV Shows folder) , is there any way of improving on that?

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated

Andy

[Andy Clark]

the TV Shows folder is just a blank folder though, is there any way to get the icon to show as something other than a blank folder icon?

Find a picture you want to use for the folder, save it as a jpg, ensure it is under something like 30kb, put it in the folder of the TV series, and rescan the drive. It shoudl then use your jpg as the folder icon.

[TechyMike]

Managed to get the Black Mamba theme working. Used thumbgen to create my movie sheets.

If anyone else is interested there is full info here:

BLACK MAMBA V1.5 (Theme Update April 27th 2012) - Western Digital Community

I followed the instructions in the guide and so far everything has gone smoothly.

You need to download the smp version.

I am still experimenting with the movie sheets etc, bringing in my own dvd covers, fan art etc but it is a big improvement over the standard look.

[zAndy1]

Originally Posted by TechyMike

Managed to get the Black Mamba theme working. Used thumbgen to create my movie sheets.

If anyone else is interested there is full info here:

BLACK MAMBA V1.5 (Theme Update April 27th 2012) - Western Digital Community

I followed the instructions in the guide and so far everything has gone smoothly.

You need to download the smp version.

I am still experimenting with the movie sheets etc, bringing in my own dvd covers, fan art etc but it is a big improvement over the standard look.

Thanks for that, guess what I'm doing tonight now

[Deva_STi]

Need some help with this one please.

I got my laptop and smp connected to my Gigabit switch, my external hdd plugged into smp USB port in the back.
My router is also connected to the switch.
I burn DVDs on the laptop using the files stored on the external hdd(connected to the smp).
While burning a DVD I had to reboot the router which caused the laptop and smp to lose connection with each other, which ended in a failed burn.
1. Should I be losing connection between laptop and smp when the router is off/unplugged from switch?
2. Is it possible to keep the connection (laptop>smp)without the need for the router to be connected to the switch?
3. If so, how?

Appreciate your help, thanks.

[Ian182]

Anyone know of any custom themes that use the built in WDTV scraper, rather than ThumbGen?
I have around 300 movies/tv episodes on my external HDD, and don't have the time to pull through all the artwork for them using ThumbGen, no matter how nice it looks I did have a look at the Black Mamba theme, and a couple of other custom ones, but I only get the cover artwork by going into the properties of each movie, rather than in the various views you can select.

Reverted back to one of the default themes for now (I seem to have lost the original Mochi theme when I uploaded the first custom one), so at least I have all the artwork back in all the different views

Ian.

[Andy Clark]

Originally Posted by Ian182

Anyone know of any custom themes that use the built in WDTV scraper, rather than ThumbGen?
I have around 300 movies/tv episodes on my external HDD, and don't have the time to pull through all the artwork for them using ThumbGen, no matter how nice it looks I did have a look at the Black Mamba theme, and a couple of other custom ones, but I only get the cover artwork by going into the properties of each movie, rather than in the various views you can select.

Reverted back to one of the default themes for now (I seem to have lost the original Mochi theme when I uploaded the first custom one), so at least I have all the artwork back in all the different views

Ian.

Alaska Resurface uses the in-built scraper (I couldn't be bothered with Thumbgen as well, even though I did use it for my older WDTV) works perfectly with the SMP - check out the official forums.

[davefeeder]

Originally Posted by Andy Clark

Alaska Resurface uses the in-built scraper (I couldn't be bothered with Thumbgen as well, even though I did use it for my older WDTV) works perfectly with the SMP - check out the official forums.

I've already generated my metadata XML and backgrounds using Thumbgen. Can I use this metadata instead of having to us the WD scraper?

[Andy Clark]

Originally Posted by davefeeder

I've already generated my metadata XML and backgrounds using Thumbgen. Can I use this metadata instead of having to us the WD scraper?

No I don't think you can. The built in metadata is in a different format to Thumbgen.

Also someone mentioned that they had lost the Mochi theme - you can get it by pressing the red button and going to themes (or something like that as I haven't used it for a long time) where other standard themes are based.

[zAndy1]

Had a much better night last night, got that Black Mamba theme installed and used Thumbgen to get all the covers etc, all looking good One query i do have, the author of that theme recommends not using the media library and seeing as I'm streaming everything from one source I dont think i need to use the media library anyway. The issue is when i go into the 'Videos' section and select the content source as 'network share' i then see folders for all my shares in the videos section e.g. the music and photo folders. Obviously those folders aren't relevant to the videos area so is there a way of restricting what folders appear?

Ta
Andy

[TechyMike]

Glad you got the Black Mamba theme working - it looks good.

Yes I have that query too. Surely there should be some way to say what folders are photo only, music only and video only?

The only problem I keep getting is when I move my movies around, currently putting them into folders, action, adventure, comedy etc, it takes ages for them to be appear. Same happens with folder jpg, I change one of them and it takes ages for it to update from the old folder jpg.

Got some of my series done without too much of a hitch using thumbgen.

Not sure whether to put media library on or not?

[boxer29]

How to control the volume from the remote control supplied
Want to connect it my 22 inch dell led via hdmi
Thanks

[planthead]

Originally Posted by boxer29

How to control the volume from the remote control supplied
Want to connect it my 22 inch dell led via hdmi
Thanks

You cant, but the iPhone app can,, sorry, don't know about android....

[boxer29]

what nonsence cant control volume from supplied remote
the basic thing
wd have left this i dont know why
so have a phone to do the volume
no no
cancelling my order

[boxer29]

whats the latest firmware you want to install on this
1.09.10 is this the latest

[Ian182]

Thanks Andy

Stuck Alaska Resurface on it tonight. Wasn't sure I liked it at first, as it's very minimal. Had a play around with the views for Movies/TV though and I really like it, probably the best thing out there if you're using the built in scraper.

Had a read through his thread on the WD forum and he has an updated version in the pipeline that looks even better

Ian.

[Raine]

Originally Posted by Andy Clark

zAndy1 sounds like you had "fun"
My thoughts are:
1) Connect the HDD directly to the WDTV and select content source as My Media Library (make sure Media Library is turned on in settings)
2) If you want the box to auto scans the files then make sure that you have set it up to do so - as in go to Media Library in settings and choose Auto. (Personally I do mine manually) You can choose for it to search in standby only etc.
3) Ensure TV shows are labelled as follows: Seriesname.S01.E01 - so Dexter would be Dexter.S01E01 for the first ever episode. This is the only way that naming TV shows works.
4) Make sure you have filtered your settings to show you what you want - Press the green button. If you have enabled the Media Library you will be able to aggregate the files to show you your media based upon where you have told the box the files are.

One things well worth doing is to download a new theme, I use Alaska Resurface (check out the official WDTV forums) as this speeds the box up. To add a theme - see the excellent post a few up from doowruc

Hope that helps.

Interesting. How exactly does it speed up the box? Thx!

[Donnacha]

All, quick question and you opinions please - I'm in the market for a media streamer and apart from the price, why wouldn't I buy the WDTV Live over the Dune Smart H1?

It seems to be just as good, going by the specs (Ok no HD-audio) but can survive without that based on where I'm planning to use it. It offers a jukebox and the ability to do custom skins and seems very competent in playing most files.

Am I missing something, as the difference in price suggests that there is a major difference between the two?

Thanks

[Mr Regan]

Can this version of the wdtv use custom firmware to unlock other apps? I'm sure I read somewhere that it can't be done because of the chip

[billy2]

Originally Posted by Mr Regan

Can this version of the wdtv use custom firmware to unlock other apps? I'm sure I read somewhere that it can't be done because of the chip

no it cant

[zAndy1]

Going back to the issue I mentioned earlier where all of my network shares are showing in the videos section i.e. the photos and music folders for example, if i highlight a folder and press options it gives me the option to delete but i get the impression it might delete all the files in that folder off my HDD, anyone know if that's the case or does it just delete that folder from that section? I find black mamba very slow when in the mode where it shows the moviesheet etc for each movie at the top of the screen, if i scroll to another movie it can take approx 5 secs for the coverart etc to appear which is too slow really, anyone else noticed that? I wonder if its because I'm accessing my hdd as a network share and not connected to the wdtv?

Ta

[TechyMike]

Originally Posted by zAndy1

Going back to the issue I mentioned earlier where all of my network shares are showing in the videos section i.e. the photos and music folders for example, if i highlight a folder and press options it gives me the option to delete but i get the impression it might delete all the files in that folder off my HDD, anyone know if that's the case or does it just delete that folder from that section? I find black mamba very slow when in the mode where it shows the moviesheet etc for each movie at the top of the screen, if i scroll to another movie it can take approx 5 secs for the coverart etc to appear which is too slow really, anyone else noticed that? I wonder if its because I'm accessing my hdd as a network share and not connected to the wdtv?

Ta

I think delete would delete all the items in the folder. You could give your network drive read only access for the wdtvlive and then try it. At least that way no files would get deleted.
I have a 2 second gap between moviesheets. I read on the wdtvlive forums that this is a known problem, for some reason, wdtvlive firmware takes between 2 and 5 seconds to display moviesheets. They have been requests for a future update to the firmware to solve this problem. As mine is only a 2 second gap, I can live with that.

[Andy Clark]

Originally Posted by Raine

Interesting. How exactly does it speed up the box? Thx!

It speeds the box up by not showing the backdrops for the movies as you scroll through them, this is what slows the box down as it has to go and pull the "photo" from cache (or wherever it stores it).
By using the Alaska Resurface theme you get the movie poster, movie information but no large backdrop - if you want to see other backdrops then press the info button and choose it from the menu.

The standard theme shows a backdrop for every film as you scroll through, this causes delay, if you really want to see the backdrops and want to try to speed your box up then make sure you have changed the photos section (yes the photos section is where the backdrops are held) to show a new image every 5 minutes - I beleive the default is a new photo every couple of seconds or so - by changing the setting to 5 minutes it stops the box trying to grab the image.

I can scroll through the films with no slow down at all by using this theme.

Hope that all makes sense. Look at the screen shots on the official forum, it shows exactly what you can expect to see.

[Raine]

Originally Posted by Andy Clark

It speeds the box up by not showing the backdrops for the movies as you scroll through them, this is what slows the box down as it has to go and pull the "photo" from cache (or wherever it stores it).
By using the Alaska Resurface theme you get the movie poster, movie information but no large backdrop - if you want to see other backdrops then press the info button and choose it from the menu.

The standard theme shows a backdrop for every film as you scroll through, this causes delay, if you really want to see the backdrops and want to try to speed your box up then make sure you have changed the photos section (yes the photos section is where the backdrops are held) to show a new image every 5 minutes - I beleive the default is a new photo every couple of seconds or so - by changing the setting to 5 minutes it stops the box trying to grab the image.

I can scroll through the films with no slow down at all by using this theme.

Hope that all makes sense. Look at the screen shots on the official forum, it shows exactly what you can expect to see.

I guess that'll make no difference to me cuz I prefer to use the video wall display with my theme.

[Andy Clark]

Originally Posted by Raine

I guess that'll make no difference to me cuz I prefer to use the video wall display with my theme.

I really only ever use the view where you can see 18 movies on one page, whatever view that is! That view shows me the movie image and synopsis, that is enough for me and the kids - Oh and the wife!

[Donnacha]

Just ordered one of these from amazon......I suspect I'll be on this thread a bit in the future !!