Newbie here, Can someone guide me? Options

[jermtest]

HI Everyone,

I recently purchased, a WD Live Plus used on ebay, actually my inpulse makde me buy two: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-1080...r/dp/B003MVZ60I

I thought I would be able to connect an external CD Drive and play my Dvd's or my own AVI's on CD-R's

Only my quest for this answer led me here and here I am.

Is a custom firmware my only answer? will installing this limit my streaming capabilities with Hulu or Netflix?

If so what is a flashed vs non flashed firmware? and if when installing i encounter an error can i unbrick my device and revert back to an original firmware from WD?

thank you so much in advance (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[Rev Drew]

custom firmware is currently based on 1.05.04, not 1.06.16 so there will be no hulu support.
1.06.16 broke enough things that there wont be a custom firmware release based on it.
custom firmware is required for the use of a USB hub and possibly an optical drive (can't remember, I use custom firmware exclusively and my optical drive works fine)

they are quite robust and hard to brick, I did it while flashing it drunk, I got it back through the use of a serial cable.
pay attention and you should be fine, you can wipe the config and flash WD OEM firmware back to it if you want.

basically, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
WD was supposed to release one more firmware update for the original live and the live plus late in 2011 that addressed many issues, hasn't happened yet, if it ever does happen, there may be a custom firmware release for it, if it fixes all issues developed in 1.06.16. don't hold your breath though.