If I change the var file b-rad created from 1.01.77 to 1.01.80 the upgrade icon appears. So at least i know the pen drive is working fine. Now I haven’t attempted to change the firmware for fear I will brick the device. Do you think this will work if I do try it? Is there any going back if i brick it? I have left the same message on b-rads blog. But there has not been much activity there lately.
I have read as much as i can on the subject. I can find no concrete information on what changes there are between 1.01.77 & 1.01.79?
1.01.79 supports the EuP MCU (the chip that turns the device all the way off to comply with EuP regulations). It has no other changes from 1.01.77, so it would be pointless to release it."
Therefore I read that as .79 having no functional differences but caters for minor hardware differences between the “00” &“01” specifically the EuP MCU. As I doubt this was just stuck onto the board with chewing gum there may well be a slew of other minor component differences so loading a .77 based firmware may well leave the device without the necessary code to run seeing as it will have unknown hardware as far as that firmware (.77) is concerned.
On the flip side it may just make the EuP invisible to the system and work as the previous model for they do share the same processor and media streaming hardware.
It’s a gamble. If I could extract the .79 firmware somehow and knew for sure I could reload it if .77 didn’t work then that would make it more appealing to try, but I don’t fancy my chances of getting .79 back on if it fails to boot under .77
Now I have gotten around the subtitle issue I have “some” use for it now on my Bedroom TV where the stupidly longer drive scan isn’t such an issue. Therefore I’m not inclined to mess it up now although I will most definately NOT be buying any more until I see some action on WD’s part to support it. Perhaps I’ll check out the upcomming Boxee or treat myself to a C-200 for the living Room…who knows
If you load a firmware that either makes it not boot or bricks it then you won’t be able to get to the homepage to load any other firmwares on in order to fix it.
If you do **bleep** it up, when it’s looked at back at WD they’ll be able to see it’s got a firmware other than the .79 that the “01” model ships with. In posting such things on their very own website you can bet they’ll be looking for such causes too!
In the end if you can live with the risk of chucking £80 down the pan if it doesn’t work then the final choice is yours.
In a selfish way I’m hoping somebody will try before I get the itch and do it myself :smileyvery-happy:
So basically i would mad to try the firmware by just changing the name. Its a shame, i was really looking forward to movie sheets. Why did WDC never offer this on the WDTV HD? We shouldnt have to rely on custom firmware.
Well I bit the bullet and can confirm that firmware 1.01.77 “DOE’S” indeed work fine on Gen2’s product code -01 that have shipped pre-installed with 1.01.79
Not only does it work it also:
Dramically speeds up boot.
remembers custom resolution straight away
still has to rescan discs but is MUCH faster to do so.
remembers the last watch points of videos after being in stand-by/off mode.
I shall continue to test over the next few days and report any issues but initail thoughts
are that .79 is utter cack, no doubt rushed out to meet EU requirements etc
Yes I did note that, thing is it’s almost doing what I want now (be it with work-arounds) so unless future firmware
has the features I want I’ll stick with this and leave my Gen1 as the main unit. Was sweating it though :smileyvery-happy:
On another note, yep was “official” firmware version 1.01.77 but if that custom one you want is a build on .77 then I imagine the risk is no greater than usual when using homebrew. At least you now know you can re-flash to factory .77 if you don’t like it.
I bought one(2 actually) of these, on Aug 15th hoping I could make it really easy for my elderly mom, to be able to watch all the old home movies, which her & dad(RIP) recorded together, during the years the first video recorders, worked, and they had made of us as kids, their vacations etc…Shamefully, we bought the 2nd one at the same time, as my wife wanted, her mother to be able to watch the videos, her family recorded, when she was little.
EVEN THE BEST QUALITY ENCODE’S GO OUT OF SYNC. sometimes from the begining.
Considering, I used Divx pro to encode the into MP4’s from AVI files, and they run flawlessly, on everything but the WDTV, I’d say quality in quality out, and plays like garbage on the WDTV garbage hardware!!!
SO, when I use a $3,000 computer to encode, AVI files into MP4, for better quality, you can be assured that,
I’m P.O.ed the WD really doesn’t give a flying Feck, about customers, who buy any product other then their HDD’s
If they don’t want to support them, they should not sell them.
Just to let ye know, I successfully updated the 1.01.79 firmware to b-rads. I am not sure if there are any errors though because I have never seen it working before. Movie screens are up, but are very very hard to read. The writing is so small. This might be the tv though. Crappy little alba tv/DVD combi. 14" screen. Now that I have the firmware running what would you suggest as my next step. Besides buying a new tv. I am working on that. Is there anyway to make the writing on the movie screens bigger?
Just remember that these things were made specifically for HD TVs, with support for legacy TVs added as a “convenience.” The fonts aren’t hard to read on the sets these things were made for. ;)
I intend to get a new HD tv as soon as possible. Waiting to find out what televisions are compatible with irelands new digital television system. But I’ll try it out as soon as I can on a hd ready tv. If I connect it to a HD tv with the composite cables, would that just be the same as I am seeing now on the small Alba? Anyone here familiar with movie sheets? Mp4 movies and sound are completely out of sync. Anything I can do? Convert to avi?
