Does Western Digital TV live hub play iso files from a hard drive?

[BillieBog]

I know this is probably a basic question, but after an hour or so of looking at different web sites I am totally confused. I would like a media player (hardware not software) to hook to my tv that will play iso files from a USB 3.0 hard drive. I have an ASUS O!Play Air Media player, but it does not support the new USB 3.0 hard drive I just bought. Also, I bought the ASUS back in 2009 and it looks like there has been a lot of improvements in media players. Suggestions??

[Charlie]

With the latest firmware it should. I have this and it does.

[BillieBog]

Thanks, Charlie. When you say you have this, are you referring to the Asus that I already have or the Western Digital TV live hub that I am thinking of buying? Also, if you mean the Asus O!Play that I already have, (and I know after years and years of dorking with this stuff, this is a dumb question) how do I get a firmware upgrade to it??

[MMM]

Originally Posted by BillieBog

I know this is probably a basic question, but after an hour or so of looking at different web sites I am totally confused. I would like a media player (hardware not software) to hook to my tv that will play iso files from a USB 3.0 hard drive. I have an ASUS O!Play Air Media player, but it does not support the new USB 3.0 hard drive I just bought. Also, I bought the ASUS back in 2009 and it looks like there has been a lot of improvements in media players. Suggestions??

The WD TV Live does play .ISO files (don't know about BD .ISOs -- I am sadly still only using standard DVD rips) from both portable and desktop external HDDs. Very cool. It even plays from Video TS folders, so you really don't even need to convert it to an .ISO. ALSO, it seems to upconvert the SD movies very well. One thing that could be improved is the hd playback from streaming sources like youtube. Don't even think I am getting HD streaming content. I wonder if it has to do with a persons bandwidth speed? The appletv streams very well even with crappy bandwidth...it will make you wait until enough information has been downloaded before starting. This is instead of downgrading your HD stream to a lower resolution for the benefit of faster playback -- which may be what the WD TV Live is doing. Personally, I don't mind waiting a little bit for an HD stream.

[BillieBog]

[QUOTE=MMM;343023]The WD TV Live does play .ISO files (don't know about BD .ISOs -- I am sadly still only using standard DVD rips) from both portable and desktop external HDDs. Very cool. It even plays from Video TS folders, so you really don't even need to convert it to an .ISO. ALSO, it seems to upconvert the SD movies very well.

Thanks and that sounds really, really good. But have you bought a new hard drive lately? I just had to buy a new one, and it is USB 3.0 (says on box that it downverts to 2.0 USB, but my current media player will not recognize the drive--that's why I am thinking about a new media player).

Billie

[MMM]

I am not certain if the device uses usb2.0 or usb3.0. I would guess tho that the device utitlizes the USB 3.0 version as it is compatible with the Windows 7 version, HDMI 1.4, and Wireless N connectivity. It would make more sense.

I run it on a HDD that is compatible with both USB versions.

[Adbear]

[QUOTE=BillieBog;343025]

Originally Posted by MMM

The WD TV Live does play .ISO files (don't know about BD .ISOs -- I am sadly still only using standard DVD rips) from both portable and desktop external HDDs. Very cool. It even plays from Video TS folders, so you really don't even need to convert it to an .ISO. ALSO, it seems to upconvert the SD movies very well.

Thanks and that sounds really, really good. But have you bought a new hard drive lately? I just had to buy a new one, and it is USB 3.0 (says on box that it downverts to 2.0 USB, but my current media player will not recognize the drive--that's why I am thinking about a new media player).

Billie

Have you checked the file system, it's quite possible the drive is formatted as NTFS and that your media player only recognizes FAT32

[Rainer Gambo]

Originally Posted by BillieBog

Have you checked the file system, it's quite possible the drive is formatted as NTFS and that your media player only recognizes FAT32

The device might only support drives up to either 500GB, 1TB or 2TB (in case BillieBog's new HDD is larger than 2TB).

Another reason might be the fact that most new big drives no longer have 512 Bytes per sector like it has been for the last three decades - they have 4KB instead.

[Charlie]

WD Player. I am unsure of ISO BD's though. The player will read FAT32 and NTFS.

[MMM]

Yes, the hub does play iso files (dvd and bluray movies) from a hdd.