Western Digital My Book World Edition 500GB External Hard Drive

[imported_Newbie]

From the prices that I saw - looks like a real hot deal! No USB or FireWire - It does have a USB connection on it so that you can add other external drives to it. Mixed reviews.

WD MyBook World

 

[wedi42]

is this the drive with DRM?

 

[Soundmanred]

Not really DRM, it just won't let you share most media types over the network, or connected remotely. You can access them locally if you don't use their software, but why buy the drive if you're going to do that?
Pretty lame to me.

Here's a list of unsupported (not allowed in other words) media types:

The following file types are unsupported for sharing:
I'll save you some time - EVERYTHING.

AAC - Advanced Audio Coding
AIF - Audio Interchange File
AIFC - Audio Interchange File
AIFF - Audio Interchange File Format
AMF - DSMIA/Asylum Module File
ASF - Advanced Streaming Format
ASX - Advanced Stream Redirector
AVI - Audio Video Interleave
CDA - CD Audio
DIV - DivX AVI
DIVX - DivX AVI
FAR - Farandoyle Tracker Music Module
IT - Impulse Tracker
ITZ - Impulse Tracker
KAR - Karaoke MIDI
MDZ - Cubic Player/Cross-View Music Module Description
MOV - QuickTime Video
MP1 - MPEG Layer 1 (Audio)
MP2 - MPEG Layer 2 (Audio)
MP3 - MPEG Layer 3 (Audio)
MP4 - MPEG Layer 4 (Video)
MPA - MPEG Audio Stream, Layer I, II or III
MPE - MPEG Video
MPEG - MPEG Video
MPG - MPEG Video
MPGA - MPEG Layer 3 (Audio Stream)
MPV2 - MPEG Audio Stream, Layer II
OOG - OOG Bitstream
OKT - Oktalyzer Tracker Module
PTM - Poly Tracker Module (Audio)
QT - QuickTime Video
QT1 - QuickTime Video
TMP - Temporary files
VOC - Creative Labs Sound
WM - Windows Media Audio or Video
WMA - Windows Media Audio
WMV - Windows Media Video
VOB - Video Object (DVD Video)

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred
Not really DRM, it just won't let you share most media types over the network, or connected remotely. You can access them locally if you don't use their software, but why buy the drive if you're going to do that?
Pretty lame to me.

Here's a list of unsupported (not allowed in other words) media types:

The following file types are unsupported for sharing:
I'll save you some time - EVERYTHING.

AAC - Advanced Audio Coding
AIF - Audio Interchange File
AIFC - Audio Interchange File
AIFF - Audio Interchange File Format
AMF - DSMIA/Asylum Module File
ASF - Advanced Streaming Format
ASX - Advanced Stream Redirector
AVI - Audio Video Interleave
CDA - CD Audio
DIV - DivX AVI
DIVX - DivX AVI
FAR - Farandoyle Tracker Music Module
IT - Impulse Tracker
ITZ - Impulse Tracker
KAR - Karaoke MIDI
MDZ - Cubic Player/Cross-View Music Module Description
MOV - QuickTime Video
MP1 - MPEG Layer 1 (Audio)
MP2 - MPEG Layer 2 (Audio)
MP3 - MPEG Layer 3 (Audio)
MP4 - MPEG Layer 4 (Video)
MPA - MPEG Audio Stream, Layer I, II or III
MPE - MPEG Video
MPEG - MPEG Video
MPG - MPEG Video
MPGA - MPEG Layer 3 (Audio Stream)
MPV2 - MPEG Audio Stream, Layer II
OOG - OOG Bitstream
OKT - Oktalyzer Tracker Module
PTM - Poly Tracker Module (Audio)
QT - QuickTime Video
QT1 - QuickTime Video
TMP - Temporary files
VOC - Creative Labs Sound
WM - Windows Media Audio or Video
WMA - Windows Media Audio
WMV - Windows Media Video
VOB - Video Object (DVD Video)

What if you rename the file to ".txt"?

 

[Soundmanred]

I wondered the same thing, but why bother?
There's better solutions for less money out there.
Plus streaming wouldn't work.
WD's World = FAIL.

 

[wedi42]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred
There's better solutions for less money out there.

with gigabit ethernet? i'd like to know what it is


after some research, i'm actually tempted to get this, because there are ways to get around the limitations
it runs linux and is very hackable

 

[JackMDS]

This is not an External Drive, it is a NAS (Network Accessed Storage).

The Main draw back of this specific device (beside blocking Media files if used with it own software) is Speed.

Though the Network is rated as 10/100/1000. Its actual Writing Speed is 5MB/sec.

I.e., it preforms like bellow the average of 100Mb/sec. Network.

 

[imported_Newbie]

I read some of the comments and isn't there an easy way to make it act just like a normal external hard drive?

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: Newbie
I read some of the comments and isn't there an easy way to make it act just like a normal external hard drive?

Well, not via USB, but just don't install the software that's included and it'll just show up under your network shares and you can map that to a drive if you want.

Here's a good page for info on the drive and hacks that you can do to it (enable NFS, spindown, etc..)

http://mybookworld.wikidot.com/hacks-and-howto