replacement for a WD live media player

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Loismustdye

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Topic # 185357 19-Nov-2015 11:34

Theres been a few posts on similar topics but none have really answered what I want to do.
Im after something to replace the above device, as its starting to cause all sorts of headaches requiring it to have the power cable pulled all the time, and it also disappears randomly form the home network (connected by ethernet cable rather than wireless).

It needs to be
- as easy to use as possible
- play media via a USB HDD
- Ful HD capable and able to play as many formats as the WD live is/was able to.
- ethernet connection

I did debate a RPii 2 but after reading that Kodi doesnt do 1080p it kind of put me off.
I was looking a the following JCMathew boxes from noel leeming but there is very little information about them that I can find on the net. Or the generic model I have also linked.

https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/home-entertainment/televisions/media-players/jcmatthew-a1hd-hd-1080p-media-player/prod127382.html

https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/home-entertainment/televisions/media-players/jcmatthew-atv400-android-4-1-media-player-extra-slim-dual-core-tv-box/prod123319.html

https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/home-entertainment/televisions/media-players/generic-atv582-mygica-atv-582-quad-core-uhd-multimedia-player/prod133848.html

Does anybody have any experience with the above boxes or know of anyone that uses one?

Thanks

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Reply # 1431053 19-Nov-2015 11:50

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kodi does 1080p on a raspberry pi 2.

also does it on a raspberrypi 1.

I've got 3 raspberrypi 2s around the house all running osmc (distro of kodi for the pi) all running movies in 1080p. great thing about the pi is it can also playback full frame 3d mkvs as well (if 3d is your cup of tea)

SumnerBoy

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Reply # 1431064 19-Nov-2015 12:10

+1 for Kodi and 1080p. Also running OSMC and it is pretty stable these days.

I have a NAS with all my media, sharing via NFS. Have two clients, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. The wife loves the way she can start a show downstairs then move upstairs to the bedroom and resume from the last position.

I also have a PCI DVB-S tuner card in my home server and run TVHeadend. Means I can watch Freeview channels on my Kodi clients as well. Although it is only a single tuner so only one client/channel at time. Works a basic DVR tho.

Migrated to RPi2s about 6 months ago - MUCH better performance.

mclean

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Reply # 1431087 19-Nov-2015 13:01

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Probably should consider a replacement WDTV Live as an option.

McLean

Loismustdye

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Reply # 1431109 19-Nov-2015 13:41

thanks for the quick replies.

Thats good if the KODI does 1080p, I was lead to believe that it needed some hack or root to it in order to get it to do Full HD from 720p.
And as a RPii 2 can be had for all up reasonably thats a bigger plus.

I did think about a replacement WD live as this one is probably i the 4-5 year age range, but I was kind of reluctant due to the current issues with mine (in saying that, 4-5 years isn't too bad a lifespan for something thats only $145 on special at times). Be interesting to see if the current gen WD live player is the same guts etc as the one I've currently got.

Cheers

reven

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Reply # 1431111 19-Nov-2015 13:42

can confirm, no hack or mod or anything is needed to get the raspberrypi 1 or 2 to playback/output 1080p. just install osmc or openelec and you'll have 1080p goodness.

timmmay

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Reply # 1431117 19-Nov-2015 13:55

I use OpenElec on R.Pi 2 - Pi v2 is MUCH faster than v1. Remote control is a PITA but I have a Logitech one that works ok - took some effort to get it working though.

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SumnerBoy

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Reply # 1431119 19-Nov-2015 13:57

I bought a couple of these;

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Rii-Mini-i7-2-4G-Mini-Wireless-Keyboard-Air-Mouse-Remote-Combo-Teclado-for-TV-BOX/1818501095.html?spm=2114.01020208.3.11.JYCuCP&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_9_79_78_77_80,searchweb201644_5,searchweb201560_9

Seem to work pretty well once you setup them up. Very small and lightweight.

Blanch

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Reply # 1431124 19-Nov-2015 13:59

+1 for Kodi and 1080p OSMC. HDMI CEC also works great so you only need the tv remote.

reven

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Reply # 1431125 19-Nov-2015 14:01

the remote on osmc is pretty simple.

you can either just buy a mce remote and plug that in, or you can buy a IR receiver and wire up 3 wires to the GPIO board of the pi (IR reciever cost $1 vs mce remote $50ish).

you'll need a keyboard to get into the my osmc settings if going IR receiver route and just to set it to use accept inputs from an MCE remote, or whatever remote you have (assuming you have a universal remote or a old xbox/mce remote) and youre good to go.

I using mine with logitech universal remotes, stuck the IR receiver to the bottom on my TVs, stuck the pi at the back of my tv and away laughing.

Only problem I've had with this, is OSMC occasionally pushes an update that screws everything up and requires you to reinstall everything, which then means I have to reconfigure the remote (but doesnt take too long to do so, hardest things is my custom commands I set in kodi which I have to reset). And of course, if you turn off automatic updates you wont get into this situation...

reven

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Reply # 1431127 19-Nov-2015 14:02

Blanch: +1 for Kodi and 1080p OSMC. HDMI CEC also works great so you only need the tv remote.

for me I can never get CEC to work, might be because of my receiver....

Blanch

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Reply # 1431150 19-Nov-2015 14:09

reven:
Blanch: +1 for Kodi and 1080p OSMC. HDMI CEC also works great so you only need the tv remote.

for me I can never get CEC to work, might be because of my receiver....

good point, I don't have OSMC connected to a AV receiver and I also turned off CEC on my main tv that has an AV receiver.

Paul1977

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Reply # 1431162 19-Nov-2015 14:17

Is your WDTV on the latest firmware? If so, roll it back to 2.01.86. This on it's own might sort you, as 2.02.32 caused problems for a lot of people.

Paul1977

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Reply # 1431173 19-Nov-2015 14:29

Blanch: +1 for Kodi and 1080p OSMC. HDMI CEC also works great so you only need the tv remote.

CEC works well for me with RasPi 2. Mine is connected to an AV receiver which passes commands from either the receiver remote or TV remote to the RasPi.

As others have stated, they are perfectly happy with 1080p.

They are not an "out of the box" solution though, so be prepared to muck around a fair bit getting it working as you want it to.

Also, when you shutdown the device it remains powered on, so the only way to restart it is to physically remove power then plug it back in. Many people power them via the USB port on their TV as a way to circumvent this issue, but your mileage may vary as some TVs won't supply enough power via USB.

Paul1977

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Reply # 1431176 19-Nov-2015 14:33

Loismustdye:
thanks for the quick replies.

Thats good if the KODI does 1080p, I was lead to believe that it needed some hack or root to it in order to get it to do Full HD from 720p.
And as a RPii 2 can be had for all up reasonably thats a bigger plus.

I did think about a replacement WD live as this one is probably i the 4-5 year age range, but I was kind of reluctant due to the current issues with mine (in saying that, 4-5 years isn't too bad a lifespan for something thats only $145 on special at times). Be interesting to see if the current gen WD live player is the same guts etc as the one I've currently got.

Cheers

The current gen WDTV has the same hardware specs, but doesn't have Netflix. Current gen apparently runs different firmware as well (i.e. can't put last gen firmware on new device or vice versa). Current gen will presumably get ongoing firmware updates, but I read that there will be no further updates for the last gen.

Speaking of Netflix, if you want a device that does this then RasPi is not for you.

livisun

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Reply # 1431190 19-Nov-2015 15:05

Sorry for crashing the thread, but i am also looking to replace, but more looking at having one that has an inbuilt hard drive? is there such thing? Just find it weird that there is no an all in one? only ones to plug hard drive in via USB

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