Died during Firmware Update Options

[hessmo]

My WDTV Player accepted the first firmware update fine, but failed when another version was offered. The instructions say not to disconnect or power down during the firmware update, but after 24 hours I was quite certain that it had already failed. Now it shows the WD logo, and that's the only sign of life.

WD cannot determine how old my player is because the serial number printed on the side of the player is apparently the wrong format for a WD player, according to WD email support.

No great loss, though. We're much happier with our Patriot Box Office than we ever were with the WD. I'll sell the dead WD for $20 - someone else might be able to use the remote control and power supply.

[gilly]

if it is the origianl wdtv gen1, you can surely revive it..

use a freshly formatted usb flash drive (small) with only the firmware fiels on it, the wdtv will go into update mode when it detects the firmware.

remember, nothing else on the flash drive but the firmware files wdtv.bin and wdtv.ver - no folders!!
open the wdtv.ver with notepad or wordpad, then edit the number to something like 1.04.01
no worries, it only fools the wdtv for update purposes..

there is only about a 1% chance it's really pooched.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[hessmo]

Actually I tried exactly that, thinking that it just might work. I even left it plugged in (powered on) overnight, and no luck. The reset button does NOTHING anymore.
I've tried powering it up with the rest button down, powering it up without the USB stick, powering it up with the rest button down, powering it up with the USB stick, pressed every button on the remote, Tried the USB stick in both inputs, everything that I could think of. It's dead.
Seems funny that it can still show the the logo. That must be hard-wired.

[gilly]

try different sized flash disks, formatted fat32 or fat.

power it up with the flash drive in, if that doesn't work, insert the flash drive after it's powered up.
try both ports, the fact that the logo comes up means it's trying to enter boot / upgrade mode, it just wants a device inserted that will make it happy...

[WDUser]

gilly is absolutely right. The same thing happened to me during my very first FW update. While some USB pen drives refused to work at all (notably 2GB ones), an 8GB Kingston DataTraveler was detected with no problems at all when I powered up the player (inserted the power cord) with the drive plugged in. So try different makes/models of pen drives and see before you give up completely.

[hessmo]

Thanks for the advice guys, but I've tried both the Kingston 4GB Data Traveler and the 8GB Kingston Date Traveler. (I've revived dead hardware before). But I've already got a happy solution. so no worries.

[WDUser]

But I've already got a happy solution. so no worries.

Which was? What worked for you finally?

[hessmo]

The Patriot is my happy solution. The WDTV is dead.

[nosti]

Might be a little late to save you from ditching the WDTV, but I had a similar problem. My player was stuck on the WD logo, I was going to throw the thing, but I gave it one more try. I did a firmware upgrade, and this is where I stuffed it up previously. When you download the upgrade and extract it from the zip, you should end up with a folder containing 2 files, .bin and .ver, copy those 2 files to an empty flash drive, not the folder containing the files, but the files individually. The player needs to read those. Plug your drive in, THEN power on. My player went into upgrade mode straight away (let it do it's stuff) and is now working as before.
So copy the files not just the folder.
Hope this helps anyone with similar problems.
I used a cheap generic 8Gb thumb drive, can't really see the difference in drive brands nor size, as long as the 2 files are there. NOT the folder.
Oh yeah, one other thing, make sure you download the correct firmware for your model. Might seem obvious, but the wrong firmware has no chance of connecting with your player.

[hessmo]

1. Formatted a 4GB Kingston Data Traveler as FAT32 without the Quick Format option.
2. Downloaded the WDTV_1_03_01.zip file
3. Unzipped it into \WDTV_1_03_01\ new folder
4. Copied the 2 resultant new files onto my just-formatted Kingston Data Traveler
5. Connected the WDTV player to a TV, with the Kingston Data Traveler plugged in to a USB port
6. Powered on the WDTV player.
7. It displayed the WD screen, then displayed:
Your HD Media Player is being upgraded.
Please DO NOT disconnect power or the attached storage.
________________________________
|_______________________________|
0%
8. I left this for about 4 hours, and unplugged it (Still at 0%)
9. I plugged the Kingston Data Traveler into the other USB port and left it overnight (about 12 hours).
Still at 0%.
10. I think that this player is DEAD.

[Rev Drew]

not necessarily, more like you haven't found the combination of drive and formatting to truly make it happy.

when you turn it on with the device attached it goes into upgrade mode, if it didn't then I would consider it dead, from what you are saying, it is not dead at all.

use the utility in my signature, try FAT or FAT 32, if you don't have a flash drive that's less than 2GB, make a partition, some look for 2GB or less, others will work on 8GB, possibly more. it looks like you have tried 1 device, it doesn't like it, get another, they are a hell of a lot cheaper than a new player...

honestly, if it goes into upgrade mode, it is not dead.