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[BryanC]

I've been having a recurring problem with my WDTV Live Plus HD media player. Sometimes it will disappear randomly from the list of "Playing Now" devices and then reappear with the "- currently in use" tag appended to it. When I try to play songs on it after selecting it as a zone, I get the following error:

"There was a problem controlling the selected DLNA device. Double-check your device, server, and network settings."

Followed by:

"Media Center encountered errors while trying to play the last several files. Please make sure the path in your Media Library points to the right location."

If I change zones and try playing the selected files, they play fine.

If I restart the WD device I might get it to play 2 or 3 songs until it disappears again and the cycle repeats. Any ideas?

Is it necessary to change any of the audio output settings for the WDTVLIVE zone (I currently have DirectSound enabled with no DSP effects) for HW synchronization or anything like that?

Thanks!

[bob]

What version and build of MC are you running?

First, make sure you have a DLNA server running in MC (Options->Media Network DLNA Server). When serving out content to the WDTV the first server in the DLNA servers list is used. It should be generic DLNA. Start with audio conversions turned off in the settings for that DLNA server.

The audio output settings don't apply to the DLNA server/controller.

Make sure your WDTV firmware is current.

I have noticed the WDTV dropping on and off the list at times. This happens when I'm testing sending different content to it that it may or may not support. Once it gets into an unknown state it will not work properly until rebooted.

[BryanC]

I'm using the latest beta version, 15.0.95. I have those DLNA options enabled in MC15. I opened up the DLNA ports on my router manually, thinking that it may have something to do with it, but no go. I have the WD TV Live Plus HD connected directly to my router and the DLNA Server (desktop computer) is connected via wireless-n. The WD TV Live Plus is updated to the latest firmware (not the beta, since it introduces HDMI handshake issues).

It seems now that every time I try to connect to the WD TV Live Plus, it shows as "currently in use" even though it's sitting idly on the home screen.

[BryanC]

Does media streaming need to be enabled in Windows 7? Could there be a conflict if it is?

[bob]

I'm using the latest beta version, 15.0.95. I have those DLNA options enabled in MC15. I opened up the DLNA ports on my router manually, thinking that it may have something to do with it, but no go. I have the WD TV Live Plus HD connected directly to my router and the DLNA Server (desktop computer) is connected via wireless-n. The WD TV Live Plus is updated to the latest firmware (not the beta, since it introduces HDMI handshake issues).

It seems now that every time I try to connect to the WD TV Live Plus, it shows as "currently in use" even though it's sitting idly on the home screen.

It shouldn't be necessary to mess with the DLNA ports on the router. In nearly all routers, the lan section and the wireless section are all port of the same logical network. I assume your IP's for the server PC and the WDTV are on the same network,  right?

It's possible that the router is filtering out the muticast addresses. Can you check for a router firmware upgrade?

I think if you tested it by putting the PC on the router lan with the WDTV it would probably work.

Windows 7 media streaming "shouldn't" affect this, it's on different ports. You could turn it off to see though...

[AndyCircuit]

Well, I'm not sure but:
My neighbor (member of my neighborhood WiFi) bought one and we tried to set it up watching movies from my server. Everything went fine, but only for 4-6 mins. No matter if video or audio or what format, the device lost connection to the network after 6 mins latest. A quick research on the net revealed we were not the only ones with the exact same problem (but the only ones using MC as DLNA server) so I didn't feel to dig deeper and we gave it back.
I suspect a certain device in my (and others) network is sending a frequent broadcast packet that causes the disconnection of the WDTVLive
Maybe you just set up the device without zones as a plain vanilla DLNA box, play a playlist and check what happens .... if you see the same don't look at MC for the fix

[BryanC]

The WDTV box turned out to be such a headache I decided to return it. I could never get it to work consistently or even error consistently so I had no idea what problems to look for. I bought a new laptop and will repurpose my old one as the HTPC, since I'd rather have the MC15 theater view than the WD interface any day of the week. Plus I know MC15<->MC15 DLNA is rock solid.

[Robo983]

I just purchased this WDTVLive Plus and can confirm it does not work as a zone with MC. I does work using the Generic DNLA at least to play audio from the device under media servers.

WD has changed something and am sure it isn't an MC thing. About 6 months ago I purchased the WDTV Live and did some testing and it worked fine with Plug Player. Now PP does not even show it as a Renderer or Server (this thing can be used as a sort of NAS). I can not remember if a server function ever worked and really only planned to use MC. I took the non plus back since it did not have Netflix at the time and performed poorly with Playon. This new model seems to work very nicely for netflix and all my local media. Unfortunately I use the Web Remote and zone feature a lot and now do not have room in my media cabinet for an HTPC so was hoping to use this as a replacement but may have to sacrifice that one feature in hopes that WD fixes it later.

[Robo983]

Updating this, I did discover PP does work with the WDTV Live Plus. PP takes a long time to discover it and is why I didn't think it worked initially. Once it was found I was able to play audio. It was stoping at the end of most songs and not advancing so I turned on the option to ignore stop messages and appears to play fine now.

I would like to get it working with WebRemote as a Zone though. What options are available in MC to change for Zones that would affect the WDLIVE. Which profile is used for the zones, Generic DNLA?

[bob]

...
I would like to get it working with WebRemote as a Zone though. What options are available in MC to change for Zones that would affect the WDLIVE. Which profile is used for the zones, Generic DNLA?

The first server profile is the one used when MC is serving to an external zone.

[Robo983]

Fixed!  This has to be the greatest thing about MC is the support. I know that MC is the best media player/organizer but I do not think I have ever seen this kind of service from a company and support from a user community. Thanks!

I thought I had seen a reference to that in another post that it used the same profile but couldn't find it in a search. The XBOX360 was the first one in the list. I deleted that so all I had was Generic DNLA and instantly started working no tweeking required. I haven't tried Video via the iPhone but it worked from the WDTVLive so I figure it will work but I do not really ever use the zones via the iPhone for that. I just like to be able to start my music without having to turn on the TV.

PlugPlayer ended up being its same old buggy self. It played about 8 songs with the ignore stop messages on then I had to hit next track and play. Did the same thing with it off. I had been searching the App Store for other UPnP options and was considering the TagNPlay but there was no trial and no certainty it would work either. Now I don't have to.