Anyone tried connecting an external usb dvd-rom drive to it? Can it read the disc in the drive? I like to burn off my movies to disc and keep my hdd clean.

if it can i'll definately will get this.

Just got one unit at PCFair for RM360. Good price?

Thank you! The hacked firmware works. I now am playing my Transformers 720p off the Samsung external DVD-RW drive. Flawlessly I might say.

Not sure if you can play DVD proper. I think no since WDTV did not license CSS. It's mainly for files you already burn off to DVD-R/RW.

About the external Blu-Ray ROM, i don't see why not. Try it let us know. Not many of us owns an external BD drive

Yes can revert back to original firmware.

You guyd do know that a new firmware was just released by WD yesterday? Ver 1.0.2.04. Quite a few more improvements.

Get it at http://www.wdc.com/wdtvprerelease/

Yes it's still beta but they have added alot of features and fixes compared to the previous 'final' release 1.0.1. Western Digital is making the player better and better with each firmware, beta or not.

They are actually listening to users feedback, especially at the AVS Forum.

This post has been edited by Exarkun: Apr 14 2009, 09:40 PM

There's a link to the release notes on the page. It's a PDF file.

You should be fine. The Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA have their core Dolby Digital and DTS in their encoding. You can always tell the PS3 to output the core to your AVR.

I have stand alone BD player but an old AVR, the Yamaha RX-V540 that does DD EX and DTS-ES. Whenever I play BD with TrueHD or DTS-MA, I get DD and DTS on my amp. Connection via coaxial.

This post has been edited by Exarkun: Apr 15 2009, 12:53 PM

Try powering off (not power off by remote. unplug the power cable behind the WDTV!) the WDTV for few minutes after a firmware update. I get that weird unable to play file errors after flashing any firmware, even normal xvid avis!

But after powering down and letting WDTV reboot, the 'unable to play' files suddenly can play. Weird, I know.

Waiting for b-rad's dvdmod firmware to be updated with the latest 06 firmware.

Normal authored DVD I didnt try because I doubt you can due to CSS licensing issue.

But other than that with the DVDMod, I can play all my data burned DVDs.

Go to the Settings page and then click on About.

Guys, 1.0.2.07 firmware is out.

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

1.0.2.07 Fixed items:

* Added option to toggle subtitle default to 'On' or 'Off'

* Added subtitle outline thickness selection

* Added hard drive spindown on WDTV power off

Yeah the spinning down is claim by WD. Many in AVS Forums reported their drives spinning down when they power off the WDTV. But there are cases the drives does now spin down.

AVS Forum WDTV 1.02.07 thread with users reporting drives spinning down.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1141218 (from Page 2 onwards)

This post has been edited by Exarkun: Apr 23 2009, 11:26 PM

Just read this at AVS Forum:



GuyWD is from Western Digital. He's interacting with AVS Forum users on the firmware issues.

I also just came back from browsing Thundermatch at 4th floor. The WDTV with the stand and glossy remote is at their DVD Drive shelf. The one they pile in the middle of the floor with the big RM369 sign is the one WITHOUT the stand. It's easy to identify by the box. If the box is glossy, it's the one WITHOUT the stand. If the box is slightly matte, it's the one WITH the stand. From what I saw they still easily have 10 boxes of the WDTV with the stand.

U guys do know that spindown does not equal to shut down right? Most drives will still have their LED status ON even after the drive have spun down. The important thing is that the drive HAS spun down. LED status is irrelevant.

Another possibility in your case is that WDTV is not done searching and cataloging your drive. From the error you mentioned that "WDTV requires at least xxxMB for Media Library", I'm guessing the drive is full. If that is the case then yes, WDTV will not spin down your drive until it's done going through the ENTIRE harddisk. And a 250GB FULL HDD will take time to catalog via the Media Library.

In your case, when you switch off via remote, WDTV goes standby but actually in the background it is still cataloging and searching the drive. So no, your drive was not spun down. Try inserting a relatively empty drive and let WDTV finish cataloging. Then when it's done, try switching off via remote. The LED should still be on but the drive should not be vibrating anymore when you feel it.

That means the WDTV spun down the drive when you shut down via the remote. Hence, the cool drive because the platters were not spinning.

Yeah the current trend now is the WDTV is increasing in price.