Please help! -- still have WDTV Live Network share problem with XP SP3

Community Archives WD TV Live Networking
1

For over a week now, I’ve scoured this and other forums to try to get my WDTV Live+ to access the network shared folder on one of my PC running XP.  I think I’ve tried everything to no avail :frowning:

Setup:
1.  Dell desktop running XP Pro SP3.  Wireless connection to router.  Shared folder resides here.
2.  Acer netbook running XP Pro SP3.  Wireless connection to router.
3.  Dell laptop running XP Pro SP3.  Wireless connection to router.
4.  Linksys WRT54G router.  Ver.4.21.1.  DHCP server enabled.
5.  WDTV Live 1.05.04 (5/2011). Wired connection to router.  Seagate USB hard drive connected.

All my PC’s can access the network shared folder on my Dell desktop with no problems.  Furthermore, all my PC’s can access the USB hd on the WDTV.  However the WDTV cannot access the Network shared folder on my Dell desktop.  Lastly, my WDTV can access the internet.

I’ve tried the following ‘fixes’ to no avail:

  1. Enabled Network DDE and Network DDE DSDM in Admin Services on my Dell desktop.
  2. Uninstalled Windows Live ID Assistance in Control Panel on my Dell desktop.
  3. Checked that all devices are on “WORKGROUP”.
  4. On the WDTV, tried multiple times: Auto login on/off and Clear login.
  5. Rebooting my Dell desktop and WDTV, then waiting over an hour before trying to access the Network share with my WDTV – nothing happens when I click on the Network Shares or Media Servers icons.
  6. Running step-by-step the Master Browser proceedure on my Dell desktop as posted by TonyPh12345.  Output is as follows:

=============================================================
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>net view
Server Name            Remark

\ACER-NETBOOK         Acer D260 netbook
\DELL-LAPTOP
\HOME_PC              dell-desktop
\WDTVLIVE             WDTV LIVE
The command completed successfully.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>nbtstat -a acer-netbook

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.100] Scope Id:

           NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table

       Name               Type         Status
    ---------------------------------------------
    ACER-NETBOOK   <00>  UNIQUE      Registered
    ACER-NETBOOK   <20>  UNIQUE      Registered
    WORKGROUP      <00>  GROUP       Registered
    WORKGROUP      <1E>  GROUP       Registered

    MAC Address = C4-46-19-76-28-6D

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>nbtstat -a dell-laptop

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.100] Scope Id:

           NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table

       Name               Type         Status
    ---------------------------------------------
    DELL-LAPTOP    <00>  UNIQUE      Registered
    DELL-LAPTOP    <20>  UNIQUE      Registered
    WORKGROUP      <00>  GROUP       Registered
    WORKGROUP      <1E>  GROUP       Registered

    MAC Address = 00-19-7E-9C-24-66

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>nbtstat -a home_pc

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.100] Scope Id:

           NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table

       Name               Type         Status
    ---------------------------------------------
    HOME_PC        <00>  UNIQUE      Registered
    WORKGROUP      <00>  GROUP       Registered
    HOME_PC        <1F>  UNIQUE      Registered
    HOME_PC        <20>  UNIQUE      Registered
    WORKGROUP      <1E>  GROUP       Registered
    WORKGROUP      <1D>  UNIQUE      Registered
    …__MSBROWSE__.<01>  GROUP       Registered

    MAC Address = 00-15-E9-2B-5A-E6

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>nbtstat -a wdtvlive

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.100] Scope Id:

           NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table

       Name               Type         Status
    ---------------------------------------------
    WDTVLIVE       <00>  UNIQUE      Registered
    WDTVLIVE       <03>  UNIQUE      Registered
    WDTVLIVE       <20>  UNIQUE      Registered
    WORKGROUP      <1E>  GROUP       Registered
    WORKGROUP      <00>  GROUP       Registered

    MAC Address = 00-00-00-00-00-00

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>net view /domain
Domain

WORKGROUP
The command completed successfully.

I’m not a networking expert, but not a newbie either.  What am I missing???  Please help!

1 Like
2

Can the WDTV at least see the computer?  

If so, post the output of the command

NET VIEW HOME_PC

3

Thanks for your quick reply.

My WDTV cannot ‘see’ any computers.  By ‘see’, I mean that in WDTV menu that has the Network Shares and Media Server, I clicked the icons and nothing happens.  I also tried the File Managment in the Settings menu and no computers are displayed.

I feel like there is something simple I’d missed because my computers can access files on the WDTV connected hard drive with no problems.

4

Ok, here’s a “Hail Mary.”

Try RENAMING your PC to HOME-PC instead of HOME_PC.   (hyphen instead of underscore.)

5

Did as you suggested but unfortunately, the “Hail Mary” did not work :(  I do appreciate your help though.

Why does it allow me to have one way access to the WDTV and not the other way around?  Is there any settings I need to change on my router?   Any simple experiments I can try?

This is so baffling!

6

hi there

hmmm

1] pls try this :  [regarding : # 5.  WDTV Live 1.05.04 (5/2011). Wired connection to router…]  - change rj45 place/port you plug in your cable, restart the whole system , turn back to previous location [rj45 plug]

I mean : pls change within your router the place you plug in rj45 cable , reboot and check and back 

2] possibley something with DHCP serwer - pls check , for example try to add to your system brand new device.

pls check and revet - to enable us and others clarify if it worked

regards

pawson

7

akw999 wrote:

Did as you suggested but unfortunately, the “Hail Mary” did not work :(  I do appreciate your help though.

Why does it allow me to have one way access to the WDTV and not the other way around?  Is there any settings I need to change on my router?   Any simple experiments I can try?

 

This is so baffling!

  

Ok, let’s try something else.

Shut down HOME-PC.   Wait until DELL-LAPTOP becomes elected the Master Browser.

Reboot your WDTV (Unplug, Replug.)

If it works with the DELL, then the issue is probably the Master Browser functionality of HOME-PC.

Another thing to check:   Since all your PC’s are WIRELESS and your WD is WIRED, look in your router configuration to see if there’s some kind of feature called WIRELESS ISOLATION.   The NEWER Linksys routers have it, and it’s a “Security” feature that screws all kinds of things up.  

8

Thanks for your reply pawson and TonyPh12345.  I’m somewhat relieved that there is support out here in the forum.

I will try this later tonight and let you know the results.

9

You might have a filter setup in your router that blocks the MAC address of the WDTV Hub.  Check that.

10

Well…I’ve tried (as TonyPh suggested) shutting down everything and booting up the laptop followed by the WDTV Live.  I confirmed that the laptop is elected as Master Browser, but the WDTV Live still cannot see my laptop shared folder.  However, the laptop can fully access the hard drive that is attached to the WDTV.

Also looked at my router setup and there is no wired LAN/wireless isolation configuration.  I’ve even turned off the MAC filter, as per kareardo.  Still no success.

I’ve also tried plugging into another RJ45 port on the router and reboot as pawson suggested.  I then checked that there are no problems with the router’s DHCP server as I can add a new wireless computer to my network without any problems.

Today, I’ve even tried something new to check if there is something wrong with my network setup:

  • I unplugged the Ethernet cable from my WDTV Live and plugged it into my laptop (Dell-laptop).
  • So, my new experimental configuration is now a laptop connected to the router by wire and my desktop (Home-PC) connected wirelessly to the router.
  • My laptop (Dell-laptop) can access the shared folder on my desktop (Home-PC) and my desktop can access the shared folder on my laptop.
  • The conclusion indicates that there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with my network setup.  It’s something that the WDTV Live is not able to do when trying to access my shared folder on my Home-PC.  Note that I have no problem accessing the hard drive attached to my WDTV Live.

I feel like I’m so close to get this working, but some little setup thing is preventing be to have folder access in both directions.  Is there a bug in the WDTV firmware?

11

Tried again plugging and unplugging various devices on my network…still nada.  My desktop pc can only see the Seagate FreeAgent portable drive attached to the WDTV Live but not the other way around.   Ran out of ideas and no more replies from this forum.  Thanks to those who responded though.

Kinda wish I had bought an O!Play instead :cry:

12

hi

real deep sorry to hear not solved

probably “XP” might also be the source of ours frustration 

maybe it is still worth to try - pl try this  “WD HD unit”  to use with someone having  “Win7 and TV”

regards

pawson [Win7,wd hd live ,wd wire connection to router ,passport plus 3tb usb book, 2tb nas wired , laptop on wifi n linked , pc on wifi n linked , router nat b.band  - all works fine]

13

Go google Network Discovery. There is a service that needs to be running on your PC, and it sounds like it’s disabled. I don’t hhave XP machines anymore, andi can’t remember wha the service is called.

14

Success…

I think I’ve finally found the reason.  Thanks to pawson and TonyPh12345 for not giving up and providing some leads.  As I was searching for Network Discovery (which, by the way, is a Win7 feature and not xp), I noticed a mention of firewall settings.  So, I looked at my F-Prot Virus Shield on my PC where the shared folder resides and it was the firewall that prevented the WDTV from seeing my shared folder. I’m far from being a network expert, so I just made some educated “guesses” to allow certain inbound traffic within a range of IP address (as per my router’s DHCP setting).  The in-bound traffic that I allowed to the PC are:

Windows file sharing,
Windows network browsing,
Novell Netware Core Protocol (UDP),
SMB over TCP/IP (UDP),
UDP/User Datagram Protocol,
WINS (UDP)

I probably allowed too much, but it seems to work.  If you have further suggestions or info on how the WDTV communicates with a Windows network, please let me know.  Otherwise, the issue is solved.

Again, thanks for all your help…you guys rock!

1 Like
15

I doubt you need:

   Novell Netware Core or WINS, but the other stuff looks correct.