My WD Media Live HD Plus likes Unraid!

I tried a WD Live Plus and it works well with my Unraid server. Streams my ripped DVD movie files with no problems. No problems with the software at all. Can set up static network if needed.  Good solution to stream media from a Unraid server. Did I mention it was 99 dollars.

checkout http://b-rad.cc/ for replacement firmware which allows nfs mounts and other mods - this allows me to stream blueray/HD with no probs.

Tony

Very interesting...Thanks Tony!

Looks interesting.  Will it successfully wake a sleeping unraid server via magic packet?

Looks interesting.  Will it successfully wake a sleeping unraid server via magic packet?

Yes.

With the WDLXTV firmware you can configure "Power Up Actions" such as:

sleep 5; ether-wake -b xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx; sleep 10; /etc/init.d/S90net.mounts start

very easily now. This used to require a little manual scripting, but a member of the WDLXTV community has developed a slick Webend that makes configuration and tweaking quite easy now.

There are tons of other enhancements and plugins, with others constantly being added. WDLXTV keeps getting better and better. I recommend it highly, with the caveat that it is probably best suited for the somewhat tech savvy, rather than the average media player owner. It's not unlike unRAID in that respect. You need to devote some time to wiki reading and forum surfing to get the most out of it, as clear documentation doesn't always keep up with development.

Also, you don't need the "Plus" model. The regular model of the WDTV Live is little less expensive and the only difference is that it doesn't include NetFlix downloading.

Looks interesting.  Will it successfully wake a sleeping unraid server via magic packet?

Yes.

 

With the WDLXTV firmware you can configure "Power Up Actions" such as:

sleep 5; ether-wake -b xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx; sleep 10; /etc/init.d/S90net.mounts start

very easily now. This used to require a little manual scripting, but a member of the WDLXTV community has developed a slick Webend that makes configuration and tweaking quite easy now.

 

There are tons of other enhancements and plugins, with others constantly being added. WDLXTV keeps getting better and better. I recommend it highly, with the caveat that it is probably best suited for the somewhat tech savvy, rather than the average media player owner. It's not unlike unRAID in that respect. You need to devote some time to wiki reading and forum surfing to get the most out of it, as clear documentation doesn't always keep up with development.

 

Also, you don't need the "Plus" model. The regular model of the WDTV Live is little less expensive and the only difference is that it doesn't include NetFlix downloading.

That's good news about the wake-on-lan support.  But too bad it doesn't include some type of a web browser.  If it did then I could probably replace my Windows7 based HTPC with one of these.

Thanks for sharing!

checkout http://b-rad.cc/ for replacement firmware which allows nfs mounts and other mods - this allows me to stream blueray/HD with no probs.

 

Tony

 

 

Tony

I too use the nfs mounts.  But i'm not able to stream an uncompressed blueray though.

Do you mind sharing with me what you've done.  I have a GIGe network and can go wired or wireless,  My net.mount is as follows:

    xmount x.x.x.x:/mnt/user/Movies Movies nfs

I might add that with my GIGe network I can stream at ~ 100 to 125 MBps to & from my UnRaid Box which I believe should be more than adequate for a Blueray.

Thanks in advance

JDM

That's good news about the wake-on-lan support.  But too bad it doesn't include some type of a web browser.  If it did then I could probably replace my Windows7 based HTPC with one of these.

There is hacked firmware available for the WD TV LIVE PlUS  with a web browser. Unraid and WD make a nice simple setup together.

Just FYI, I use the stock WDTV Live firmware with unRAID and it works just fine.  Spins up the drives and everything.  The only bad thing about the WDTV is the interface (basically just a list view), but otherwise it's a perfect streamer.  I've never had one issue.  I stream via SMB shares.  Much cheaper than XBMC.

Based on my experience with a Live Hub, I would think it would work well if you aren't looking for HD audio codec support.  How do the Live & Live plus do with very large mkv files in the 30-40GB range?  My Hub plays them all fine except for ones that contain a Dolby TrueHD track.

 

Tony

 

I too use the nfs mounts.  But i'm not able to stream an uncompressed blueray though.

 

Do you mind sharing with me what you've done.  I have a GIGe network and can go wired or wireless,  My net.mount is as follows:

 

    xmount x.x.x.x:/mnt/user/Movies Movies nfs

 

I might add that with my GIGe network I can stream at ~ 100 to 125 MBps to & from my UnRaid Box which I believe should be more than adequate for a Blueray.

 

 

Thanks in advance

JDM

Your xmount should find the folder under local drives.

Uncompressed  blu ray is hit or miss on the network with the stock firmware, and b-rad.  The 1.03 series beta firmware improved this significantly, and regressed with the 1.04.xx FW.

I tried nfs on the wdtv live...and the improvement was marginal from a Syno DS-210j box.  I stayed with the 1.03 beta FW...and switched to the boxee (no problems with my full Blue mkv files)

I used this guide to mount nfs shares on the WDTV live (not +)

http://b-rad.cc/1041/wdlxtv-live-tips-1-mounting-nfs-under-network-shares/#more-1041

Your xmount should find the folder under local drives.

 

Uncompressed  blu ray is hit or miss on the network with the stock firmware, and b-rad.  The 1.03 series beta firmware improved this significantly, and regressed with the 1.04.xx FW.

 

I tried nfs on the wdtv live...and the improvement was marginal from a Syno DS-210j box.  I stayed with the 1.03 beta FW...and switched to the boxee (no problems with my full Blue mkv files)

 

I used this guide to mount nfs shares on the WDTV live (not +)

http://b-rad.cc/1041/wdlxtv-live-tips-1-mounting-nfs-under-network-shares/#more-1041

Thanks for the input mbryanr.

I am using the current version of the B-Rad firmware and you're right, it's hit or miss.  I guess my best option is to stay away from the bluerays right now.

BTW, if anyone is interested in a great way of organizing your movie collection then you might want to take a look at this forum http://forum.wdlxtv.com/ it has a great way of using movie sheets along with the WDTV  Media Players.

Here's an example.

Thanks again

JDM

Your xmount should find the folder under local drives.

 

Uncompressed  blu ray is hit or miss on the network with the stock firmware, and b-rad.  The 1.03 series beta firmware improved this significantly, and regressed with the 1.04.xx FW.

 

I tried nfs on the wdtv live...and the improvement was marginal from a Syno DS-210j box.  I stayed with the 1.03 beta FW...and switched to the boxee (no problems with my full Blue mkv files)

 

I used this guide to mount nfs shares on the WDTV live (not +)

http://b-rad.cc/1041/wdlxtv-live-tips-1-mounting-nfs-under-network-shares/#more-1041

Thanks for the input mbryanr.

 

I am using the current version of the B-Rad firmware and you're right, it's hit or miss.  I guess my best option is to stay away from the bluerays right now.

 

BTW, if anyone is interested in a great way of organizing your movie collection then you might want to take a look at this forum http://forum.wdlxtv.com/ it has a great way of using movie sheets along with the WDTV  Media Players.

 

Here's an example.

 

 

 

Thanks again

JDM

JDM - I've been browsing the forums for some time and you seem to be closest to what I am trying to do.  I have a UnRaid server working nicely with a vanilla WD TV Live Streaming Media Player.  But life with the wife would be easier with moviesheets.  After playing with Plex, I am thinking its okay for my Mac but not useful for the WDTV.  So now I am thinking of the B-Rad firmware hack, and wondering how much effort is there in making those movie sheets. Yours looks good - so what exactly did you use, and was it a manual task...?  I have nearly a thousand movies/TV shows and so I do not want to have to plug along manually with these if I can at all possibly avoid it.

If anyone else has a slick method for this - please let me know....

MJS

Based on my experience with a Live Hub, I would think it would work well if you aren't looking for HD audio codec support.  How do the Live & Live plus do with very large mkv files in the 30-40GB range?  My Hub plays them all fine except for ones that contain a Dolby TrueHD track.

I've ripped Transformers and Avatar to full size MKV's other than HD Audio and they played fine at 30+ GB files. FastForwarding was well glitchy as heck, but then again they are HUGE files. LOL

Agreed. I have the WDTV Live setup in a bedroom now, and it streams perfectly with the latest fw.

JDM - I've been browsing the forums for some time and you seem to be closest to what I am trying to do.  I have a UnRaid server working nicely with a vanilla WD TV Live Streaming Media Player.  But life with the wife would be easier with moviesheets.  After playing with Plex, I am thinking its okay for my Mac but not useful for the WDTV.  So now I am thinking of the B-Rad firmware hack, and wondering how much effort is there in making those movie sheets. Yours looks good - so what exactly did you use, and was it a manual task...?  I have nearly a thousand movies/TV shows and so I do not want to have to plug along manually with these if I can at all possibly avoid it.

If anyone else has a slick method for this - please let me know....

 

MJS

See http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewforum.php?f=18

Most folks use ThumbGen to create movie sheets. It's quite powerful and can be set up to run in automatic batch mode. There are lots of options and a bit of a learning curve though, so you would want to practice a bit in manual mode to get things the way you want.

JDM - I've been browsing the forums for some time and you seem to be closest to what I am trying to do.  I have a UnRaid server working nicely with a vanilla WD TV Live Streaming Media Player.  But life with the wife would be easier with moviesheets.  After playing with Plex, I am thinking its okay for my Mac but not useful for the WDTV.  So now I am thinking of the B-Rad firmware hack, and wondering how much effort is there in making those movie sheets. Yours looks good - so what exactly did you use, and was it a manual task...?  I have nearly a thousand movies/TV shows and so I do not want to have to plug along manually with these if I can at all possibly avoid it.

If anyone else has a slick method for this - please let me know....

 

MJS

Mike:  Do you have any questions or need any help?

sorry - I was away last week - but your post and the link is very helpful. I just wanted to know what I was venturing into before going down this road, but you've given me a good insight,  - thanks 

Mike

Sorry for reviving this post but i could do with some help.

I have an unraid server with all my movies and movie sheet info all in on folder on the server. I used to have a 2 gig hard drive attached to my WDLive and it worked great but im trying to get away from attached hard drives.

My problem is when i connect to my server through network shares and go to my movies i see all the moves and the movies sheets the way there supposed to work if I scroll up. But if i go down i see all the movies sheet pictures and files.

So it takes a long time to get to movies starting with the letter "A" as i have to scroll through them all to get there. I also found the search feature on WDLive does not work when going through network shares!

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

@Irish FX4

You might want to look into running WDLXTV custom firmware as suggested above.

Then you can xmount your network shares and they will function just like locally attached drives.

Since that's what I'm running I don't have the experience with the stock firmware to suggest how to solve your issue running it.

Hi Lewcass,

I am running B'rads latest firmware. How do i go about xmounting my network shares?

Could you give me a step by step!

Cheers!

It's covered in the wiki. http://wiki.wdlxtv.com/Net.mounts

Also in the readme.txt file included with the firmware.

If you have trouble search the wdlxtv forum http://forum.wdlxtv.com/ or ask for help there.

Or, now that I think about it, also you could search this forum and find my post on how to do an unRAID nfs share xmount. (smb share mount is slightly different, which you'll see in the wiki or readme.)

I'd suggest you not try the cifsinterceptor option initially. It's much simpler to just have a flash drive plugged into the WDTV and create a net.mounts file on it, and that way your mounted shares will appear as local drives, which I think is what you want to solve your original issue.

Hey Thanks for the replys.

These are the xmount codes im trying.

xmount 192.xxx.x.xxx:/mnt/user/Movies Movies nfs

xmount 192.xxx.x.xxx:/mnt/user/Photos Photos nfs

Now one question! Do i have to put these on a usb stick and leave it in the WDlive and un plug the power and then re power it up for it to load. Then must the usb stick stay in the WDLive so as the xmount loads every time i turn on the wdlive?

Hope you can help me out.

Is there any setting in the unraid that i must enable or change?

Thanks.

Hey Thanks for the replys.

These are the xmount codes im trying.

xmount 192.xxx.x.xxx:/mnt/user/Movies Movies nfs

xmount 192.xxx.x.xxx:/mnt/user/Photos Photos nfs

 

Now one question! Do i have to put these on a usb stick and leave it in the WDlive and un plug the power and then re power it up for it to load. Then must the usb stick stay in the WDLive so as the xmount loads every time i turn on the wdlive?

Hope you can help me out.

Is there any setting in the unraid that i must enable or change?

Thanks.

You have to put that code in a net.mounts file and save that file to your usb flash drive. Just copy and modify the sample net.mounts file included in the WDLXTV distribution.

Then, yes you must reboot*, and, yes the flash drive must remain connected. There is an alternative method explained in the wiki to do this without a flash drive, but it sounds as though you better start with the basic way.

The only thing you need to do in unRAID is make sure nfs is enabled, if that's what you want to mount.

*Note you don't need to pull the power to reboot, you can do so from the WDLXTV webend, which is accessed by entering the WDTV's IP address in your browser.