WD’s badass little media box is getting its first firmware update and it’s available starting now. Read on for details to find out what’s been fixed, what’s new and how to get the update for yourself.
New Features:
• Added .MKV chapter selection for video playback for MKV with chapter support
• Added .MTS file extension support
• Added .TP file extension support
• Added .TS file extension support
• Added 1080p 24hz support
• Added disk volume name to folder navigation in list mode
• Added EXIF orientation flag functionality for auto picture rotate
• Added file size in filename
• Added jump feature to the remote: While fast forwarding or reversing, if the “Next” or “Prev” buttons are pressed, video will jump 10 minutes in the respective direction
• Added progress indicator for the duration of the FF or REV function
• Added a blinking status LED behavior while drive is mounting; previously the light just stayed on
• Added sequential .M2TS file playback function
• Added additional subtitle support (SMI, SUB, ASS, SSA)
• Added user selectable font size for subtitle support
• Added song title scroll in music playback to prevent truncation
• Added embedded subtitle display in .MKV files
• Added additional subtitle encoding support for the following: Western Europe (ISO), Traditional Chinese (Big5), Simplified Chinese (GB18030), Japanese (Shift-JIS), Korean (EUC-KR), Cyrillic (Windows-1251), Cyrillic (KOI8-R), Greek (ISO); previously only UTF-8 was supported
• Added display sizing menu for photo playback: Fit to Screen, Full Screen, Keep as Original
• Added accelerating scroll speed based on how long the arrow is held down on the remote when navigating folders with a large number of files; previously only one, constant speed was availableResolved Issues:
• Resolved issue when 2 drives were connected, then one drive was disconnected, the files from the disconnected drive still showed up on the file list but were not playable
• Resolved “repeat one” failure during music playback; previously songs would not repeat
• Resolved artist name truncation issue during music playback
• Resolved issue where WD TV would not turn back on with remote after extended period of inactivity; previously WD TV had to be unplugged and was unrecoverable with the remote
• Resolved image size and position issues during video playback; previously the image displayed did not fill the screen until the picture was zoomed in and then out again
• Resolved info bar display issues in PAL (European display standard) mode
• Resolved issue of the slideshow playing while in the Option menu during playback, slideshow now pauses if the Option menu is accessed
• Resolved issues surrounding drives going to “sleep” and folders showing as empty; previously drives equipped with a sleep feature would not re-initialize before the WD TV timed out and displayed the folders as empty
• Resolved issues with DVR-MS file playback, FF and REV now function properly; previously FF or REV during a DVR-MS file would cause the file to stop playing and the video signal to be lost
• Resolved issues with forced resolution changes dropping video signal; previously the signal would be lost if the user switched between forced resolution and auto
• Resolved photo self re-sizing issue; previously during photo playback the pictures would randomly re-size themselves
• Resolved Status LED behavior by blinking to reflect accurate read cycles while data is being read; previously the LED just stayed on
• Resolved subtitle default to “on” issue (subtitles now default to “off”, unless there is an external subtitle file created, then subtitles default to “on”)
• Resolved subtitle position issue, the subtitles were moved down towards bottom of screen; previously during playback of some files subtitles were positioned too high blocking the view of the video
• Resolved the 1-2 second FF during initial playback of .MPG video; previously video would play in what appeared to be FF for the first 1-2 seconds and then slow to standard play rate
• Resolved video signal failure when pan function in video files with subtitles is used; previously subtitles would stop functioning, video would stop playing, or TV would lose signal
• Resolved zoom issues while file info is displayed during video playback; previously signal would fail or video would stop playing
• Resolved zooming issues while subtitles were on; previously the screen used to go black and the video would stop playingTo update the firmware:
1. Go to http://support.wdc.com and download the latest firmware update compressed file for your Media Player.
2. Click “Downloads” then the product name (or photo).
3. Extract the two files (.BIN and .VER files) to the root folder of a portable USB drive.
4. Connect the USB drive to the HD media player’s USB port.
5. Press HOME, and then select the Settings bar.
6. Select the firmware upgrade icon, and then press ENTER.
7. You are prompted to perform the firmware upgrade.
8. Select OK on the firmware update prompt, and then press ENTER. This will restart the system.
9. After restarting, the system automatically enters firmware upgrade mode.
10. Once the update process is completed, the HD media player will restart again.
11. Once the HD media player restarts, the new firmware is automatically loaded.Important: Make sure the WD TV™ HD Media Player’s AC power adapter remains connected during the firmware update. A power disruption during the update process can corrupt the system firmware. Also, make sure that you do not unplug the USB storage device
This just hit my inbox from WD. Hope it helps.
Here’s a link to our Knowledge Base article 2757 that may shed some light on this issue:
Problem:
The WD TV Media Player crashes or hangs when you attempt to update the firmware.Cause:
The firmware update application is timing out because large capacity drives cannot build the media directory fast enough to allow the installation to continue.Solution:
If you started the firmware update and the WD TV is hung, it is safe to disconnect the power from WD TV, remove the USB storage, copy the firmware files to a lower capacity (320 GB or less) USB drive with no data on it, and re-insert that drive back into WD TV. The WD TV firmware update process will begin again when you reconnect the power to the WD TV.Note: make sure only one drive, the drive with the firmware update files, is connected during the update process.