Prayer's Answered? Western Digital HD TV

martinturner · 13 May 2009 at 11:29

Question;

I own a WD HDTV and a WD Book 1TB drive. I am a little frustrated that it does not power down the hard drive. I physically have to unplug the USB cable. Now the HDTV I power off with the remote. Does anyone keep the drive permanently plugged in and powered on? Is there any cause for dataloss etc if it is left on? Overheating? Also should I be ejecting the drive first before unplugging?

Thanks

poosemon · 13 May 2009 at 12:15

the new firmware powers my hard-drive for me? using a buffalo drivestation

syke · 13 May 2009 at 14:27

martinturner said:
Question;

I own a WD HDTV and a WD Book 1TB drive. I am a little frustrated that it does not power down the hard drive. I physically have to unplug the USB cable. Now the HDTV I power off with the remote. Does anyone keep the drive permanently plugged in and powered on? Is there any cause for dataloss etc if it is left on? Overheating? Also should I be ejecting the drive first before unplugging?

Thanks

I think if you were using a Portable drive which uses what its pugged into for power it'd turn off. The fact its plugged into the wall will keep putting power through it unfortunately! Afaik anyway. And you should eject, but i've had no data loss just unplugging.

martinturner · 13 May 2009 at 14:32

poosemon said:
the new firmware powers my hard-drive for me? using a buffalo drivestation

Do you mean it powers down your hard drive when you switch of the WD HDTV??

martinturner · 13 May 2009 at 14:34

syke said:
I think if you were using a Portable drive which uses what its pugged into for power it'd turn off. The fact its plugged into the wall will keep putting power through it unfortunately! Afaik anyway. And you should eject, but i've had no data loss just unplugging.

My Western Digital book does not light up when just plugged into the mains. There is no on/off switch. It fires up the moment it gets plugged into the WD HDTV and teh lights remain on until I unplug it from teh WD HDTV. A lot of people have said it does nto power down teh USB sockets when its switched off. Does that make sense?

MagicBoy · 13 May 2009 at 18:56

Since the firmware upgrade it now powers down both my Iomega 3.5" drives.

martinturner · 14 May 2009 at 08:23

MagicBoy said:
Since the firmware upgrade it now powers down both my Iomega 3.5" drives.

I will have to check my firmware. I did however, only upgrade it a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks

Barks · 14 May 2009 at 15:44

Wow. Just got it plugged in and it's great. Quality and video playback is top draw.

Barks · 14 May 2009 at 17:52

Are there any updates for it that will place MKV files with DTS encoding. Quite annoying, or alternatively any easy way to convert them to AC3?

Apart from that niggle and the fact it doesn't play DV Uncompressed AVI files it's really quite a bloody good little gadget. Top draw.

martinturner · 15 May 2009 at 09:09

scott212 said:
Are there any updates for it that will place MKV files with DTS encoding. Quite annoying, or alternatively any easy way to convert them to AC3?

Apart from that niggle and the fact it doesn't play DV Uncompressed AVI files it's really quite a bloody good little gadget. Top draw.

I have got a little utility Popcorn MKV Audioconverter. Takes 10 mins to do a movie and is really easy to use, did not even need to use instructions.

EDIT: You can batch convert as well, so just chuck a folder at it with all your DTS content and it will do them one by one

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PopCorn_MKV_AudioConverter

MagicBoy · 15 May 2009 at 09:20

scott212 said:
Are there any updates for it that will place MKV files with DTS encoding. Quite annoying, or alternatively any easy way to convert them to AC3?

Apart from that niggle and the fact it doesn't play DV Uncompressed AVI files it's really quite a bloody good little gadget. Top draw.

If you'd read the rest of the thread I've quite clearly stated before that it will play MKV with DTS, however it sends the bitstream to the optical digital connection. It won't downmix DTS to 2.0 and send to your TV.

Buy an AV receiver or convert the files as advised above.

poosemon · 15 May 2009 at 10:55

martinturner said:
Do you mean it powers down your hard drive when you switch of the WD HDTV??

sorry taken me so long to get back....

yes, when i turn off the WDTV it first turns off the external hard drive and then shuts itself down. Im using a mains powered external hard disc rather then a usb powered one which i suppose could make a difference

Barks · 15 May 2009 at 11:16

MagicBoy said:
If you'd read the rest of the thread I've quite clearly stated before that it will play MKV with DTS, however it sends the bitstream to the optical digital connection. It won't downmix DTS to 2.0 and send to your TV.

Buy an AV receiver or convert the files as advised above.

Sorry, my bad it has been a while since I first made this thread. I remember people saying you can play DTS using the opitcal out I just wondered if since then any firmware had come out enabling playback of DTS audio.

Barks · 15 May 2009 at 11:17

martinturner said:
I have got a little utility Popcorn MKV Audioconverter. Takes 10 mins to do a movie and is really easy to use, did not even need to use instructions.

EDIT: You can batch convert as well, so just chuck a folder at it with all your DTS content and it will do them one by one

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PopCorn_MKV_AudioConverter

Thank you very much mate.

Do I need to "Downmix to Sterio" the DTS files or will the WD HD TV do this anyway from AC3?

Cheers

MagicBoy · 15 May 2009 at 16:48

scott212 said:
Sorry, my bad it has been a while since I first made this thread. I remember people saying you can play DTS using the opitcal out I just wondered if since then any firmware had come out enabling playback of DTS audio.

It does play back DTS audio, just doesn't downmix to ordinary stereo. Not uncommon - most DVD players won't either.

Guest2 · 15 May 2009 at 17:17

'There’s no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more drives for more movies'

Only one USB port so isnt this out of the question?

Why would it be any better than connecting my laptop to the tv and playing off my portable drive like i do now?

MagicBoy · 15 May 2009 at 17:20

Guest2 said:
'There’s no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more drives for more movies'

Only one USB port so isnt this out of the question?

Why would it be any better than connecting my laptop to the tv and playing off my portable drive like i do now?

Nope - two.

The WDTV is a lot less faff and a lot less mess.

fendi · 15 May 2009 at 21:03

Guest2 said:
'There’s no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more drives for more movies'

Only one USB port so isnt this out of the question?

Why would it be any better than connecting my laptop to the tv and playing off my portable drive like i do now?

You can use a usb hub and get an extra 4 HDDs plugged in. One guy on AVS has 4 external's plugged in, 4TB. All in sync and merged on the library.

If you are happy having your laptop plugged into the TV then don't invest in this little beauty.

Barks · 15 May 2009 at 21:18

It's bloody brilliant. Honestly haven't been so impressed with a gadget for ages. I thought there must be a catch for the price, but the video quality is incredible and playback is flawless. Just been sitting with a mate watching a World Cup Goals dvd I ripped years ago but got lost into the depths of my external hard drive. Absolutely fantastic gadget. 1080p is easily on par with Blu-Ray, certainly on my TV.

chippy08 · 16 May 2009 at 00:18

Hopefully the wdtv version 2 will be out this year from what there saying.