1.02.21-WDLXTV-Live-0.5.1.1 discussion

[b-rad.cc]

Due to a string of unfortunate events before I left the country for two months a public offering of this was never made fully available. I just noticed it now and have corrected that mistake.

Sorry about the delay, a newer version is being worked on atm too...so there should be a another present by christmas

Download here

Enjoy

[danpreto]

PLEASE HELP B-RAD!

Unfortunately I am unable to restart the device under "plugins" with this firmware update (1.02.21-WDLXTV-Live-0.5.1.1).

1.02.21 is the only version that can be restarted through software (under "plugins") since it is the only one with a "plugins" section. With this version (1.02.21-WDLXTV-Live-0.5.1.1) the option to restart is there but you can press "ENTER" on the remote control as much as you want the device NEVER restarts. This restart process is CRUCIAL for me since the device will not recognize both my hard drives (from the same enclosure; it's a dual bay) at first bootup. So I must restart it EVERYTIME though the "plugins" section so it will read the directory of both drives and recognize both HDDs everytime i boot up the enclosure. This issue has seemed to be overlooked for 1.05.04 and I really wish to be able to choose my movies right from the first bootup without having to restart through "plugins" everytime.

you can help this issue in either two ways:

the patch up solution: 1- fix the restart option under "plugins" for 1.02.21-WDLXTV-Live-0.5.1.1 and hopefully it will read both drives like it did on the previous version of 1.02.21

the preferred solution: 2- make 1.05.04 or a future version read both drives from a dual bay enclosure first shot. Since when i updated it to 1.05.04_V-WDLXTV-Live-0.5.1.1 i was stuck with no reboot option and the software did not detect both HDDs at first bootup. I really dont care if the boot up takes longer (since on the software restart under "plugins" the second reboot takes much longer than the initial first boot by remote control).

In a nutshell and to make things clear, the first bootup by remote control doesn't seem to analyse both HDDs compared to the software boot under "plugins" takes longer but gets to detect both drives from the dual bay enclosure.

I figured you might be curious towards this issue since i thoroughly tested this and took good care in composing a decent troubleshoot message

If you have any questions concerning this please do not hesitate to ask.
I will be more than happy to help you help me!

[mad_ady]

Strange. Some users have reported Reboot not working from WDLXTV, while it works for others on the same version. Must be something in the configuration/setup that is preventing reboot.

In the mean time you can use the Sysinfo UMSP plugin and add the reboot command from there.

True, none of this would fix your original problem, though...

[avkiev]

you can use the Sysinfo UMSP plugin and add the reboot command from there

Or UMSP/wedicom/Plugins/Reboot

[foxer]

deleted

[danpreto]

thanks a lot! @mad_ady & @avkiev for your solutions!
...but they are both temporary and are already what I am doing since I downgraded back to the previous version of 1.02.21_WDLXTV.COM_WDLXTV_LIVE-0.4.7.3 to have the restart option working again under "plugins".

It seems for ALL versions 1.02.21 the first bootup (from remote control) is just waking it up from standby mode while the "plugins" reset is a full system reboot (which takes longer and detects both drives properly)

I REALLY hope this can be corrected in future versions and I am sure I am not the only one with a dual bay enclosure with two HDDs plugged in on one USB port. Especially the fact that people want more and more space and 1-2TB single hard drives don't cut it for large HD content libraries. I had to install the B-RAD software since the original software from WD does not support dual bay hard drives on one USB (even 'till this day).

B-RAD i hope you are reading this! i need a more in depth answer or some sort of acknowledgement about this issue

@foxer = what do u mean by "deleted"!? We are here to help each other and have discussions not dismiss a perfectly legitimate problem with the firmware...

[mad_ady]

Well, what you are describing is perfectly normal then (and it's working as intended). When you "power off" your WDTV it goes into standby. When you wake it up, it doesn't rescan the USB drives. If you have USB_POWER_OFF enabled, this can be a problem - if you haven't ejected your drive before going to standby . If you eject it, it will be picked up on wake-up.

There are some solutions to your problem:
1. Add an eject statement to your POWER_DOWN scripts (see power events in WEC) similar to this:

Code: Select all

umount /tmp/media/usb/USB1/A6EC-C5E0; eject /dev/sda


2. Or add a reboot statement to your POWER_UP scripts so that when waking up from the remote it will do a full system reboot automatically (similar to this http://wiki.wdlxtv.com/Power_settings/Standby#Enhanced_standby.2Brestart)


As for why the reboot link under WDLXTV doesn't work for you - could you test it by booting without any USB drives attached and let us know if it works?

[danpreto]

WOW thanks for the in-depth reply @mad_ady!

I am glad to hear that everything is as should be concerning the standby bootup! However if I standby shutdown (by remote control) it seems that the device ejects both my discs however when I turn it back on everything is still "OK" and both disc's libraries are still detected (if I dont turn off the enclosure that is and keep the HDDs running the whole time).

Now for my question:
Are those ejections "safe" or is the WD console just hard shutting down and disregarding the drives connected to it when it goes on standy? The reason I ask is because both my discs make the sound as if they were disconnected. When I boot it back up from the remote control they make the sound of turning themselves back on as if the usb was just plugged back in.

If the remote control bootup/shutdown a.k.a. " standby" reset is safe why is it ejecting the drives in the first place? The term standby itself would suggest that the drives are always connected but I am afraid that they are not being ejected/reconnected properly. I have suffered hard drive failures in the past due to bad ejections and I am just concerned regarding this very specific issue. So if it is 100% safe, why is there the eject function? Would it be in case you need to shutdown the enclosure/hard drive(s)?

Secondly, in all honesty, I am very skeptical towards adding/adjusting my own code so I rather just stick to the firmware provided not to take any risks. However, I've done the test you suggested and I have upgraded back to 0.5.1.1 without a drive connected and the device would still not restart under "plugins". In the end, I have downgraded to 0.4.7.3 for good until the next one comes out I guess...

Ill be anticipating your reply concerning the standby reset!
Once again, thanks a bunch for your greatly valued help!!

[mad_ady]

I can't comment on the safety of ejects, but they should be safe from the filesystem's point of view. An eject command will/should fail if there are still mounted filesystems on that device. So you need to umount first (which guarantees the integrity of your filesystem) and then eject - which basically disconnects the USB bus.

The eject command is necessary because, without it, the system would continue to "see" the drives attached to /dev/sda (let's assume). But, after standby, the USB bus is reset (I guess) and forces the re-read of the drives causing the system to see /dev/sdb as well. In this case, sda is a phantom drive and sdb is the actual drive. However, the mount points and everything else still point to /dev/sda, and can't be used. When you run eject, it has the same effect as unpluging your USB cable from the wdtv. When the WDTV wakes up again and rescans the bus, it re-allocates sda and remounts the filesystem and everything starts working again.

I'm not sure if calls to eject are already part of the standby scripts, if not, they should be added after performing the umounts...

[zebulon]

I tried installing this on my WD-Live (an upgrade from 1.02.21_WDLXTV.COM_WDLXTV_LIVE-0.4.7.3) and it reboots and hangs at "Upgrading Firmware" and never moves from 0%. Any help is appreciated, thanks.