Windows 10: Lost connection to network drive attached to media player

I have not seen this issue anywhere yet, despite researching WD forums, which is where my problem is focused.


I have a hard drive attached to my WDLivePlus media player and have accessed it on my wireless network for years. I have had some problems with the mapped network location disappearing (usually because my VPN is either on or off when I try to access the player and drive) but have always been able in explorer network to refresh the settings by restarting or turning off the VPN and clicking on the WDLIVEPLUS icon, which shows as a "computer". That takes me to the drive and all its subfolders, so I can add and delete files. Therefore, I don't think the VPN is the source of my current problems accessing the drive.


This began, as far as I can tell, after the latest Win 10 update KB4462919 was installed a couple of weeks ago. What is unique in my situation is this: In File Explorer network, I can see the player as a "media device" AND THE DRIVE as a "computer", but can no longer access its folders when I click on the icon. Message received is the "problem with the name or path: diagnose, etc." one. The drive is fine if I want to access its contact from the usb-connected player. The player is also fine on the network and will stream content from my pc. So the problem appears to be the network no longer able to find the path through the media player to the drive. Also, I did not change any settings in the player itself prior to the problem arising.


If I attach the drive directly to my pc via usb it also works normally.


I have looked at device manager to see if there is a conflict and can't find anything, though once I did get a message that there was a conflict between computers when I was setting up a new computer to access the wireless network.


I have disabled my avast av and windows defender to no effect.


I have tried every conceivable network diagnostic and checked the usual sharing settings issues that arose after the spring '18 update and all the settings appear to be correct, such as re-enabling SMB1 (needed for my old player) and ensuring advanced sharing options and discovery are correct.


Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am bewildered to read the many, many approaches to solving the similar problems that have arisen over the last six or so months with the windows updates. None have worked, but I think not being able to do anything to the settings of the drive in the first place may be the crux of the problem. So many of the posts seem to address sharing out from the pc you're working on and not on reading/accesing what's elsewhere. Since I can't go to that other computer (a standalone drive) to make changes and don't see any further settings on the WD player to fiddle with, I'm at a loss.

:)

 

windows media player

Hi,

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Communities.

What is the exact error message you get when you to try play files on Windows Media Player?

I suggest you to run both Windows Media Player Library and Settings troubleshooter and check.

Step 1: If your computer is having problems playing video or audio files in Windows Media Player, try using the Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter to fix the problem. The troubleshooter checks the configuration and network settings
for Windows Media Player to make sure that you can play content you've downloaded and saved to your computer, or content streaming over a network or the Internet.

Steps to run Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter are as follows:

• Press Windows key + X and select Control Panel.
• In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click
  Troubleshooting.
• Click View all, and then click Windows Media Player Settings
  and follow the instructions.

Step 2: If your computer is having problems accessing your collection of digital media files in the Windows Media Player Library, try using the Windows Media Player Library troubleshooter to fix the problem. The troubleshooter makes sure
Windows Media Player is correctly installed on your computer, and checks to see whether your Player Library is corrupted.

Steps to run Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter are as follows:

• Press Windows key + X and select Control Panel.
  
• In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click
  Troubleshooting.
• Click View all, and then click Windows Media Player Library
  and follow the instructions.

• • 
    

Please reply us on the status of the issue to assist you further.

 

Windows 10 Media Player will not save music data populated fron external hard drive???

Hi Day,

To assist you further, let me ask you:

• Did you disconnects the external hard drive or is it connected all the time?
• What exactly do you mean by populated?
• Are you referring to media player library/playlist?

If it is about library and the external hard drive is connected all the time, I would suggest you to run Media player settings troubleshooter and media player library troubleshooter.

Follow these steps:

1. Press Windows key + X and select Control panel.

2. In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click troubleshooting.

3. Click View all, Click Windows Media player Settings and then media player library troubleshooter.

I hope the information is helpful and if you need any other assistance on windows, we’ll be glad to help you.

Thank you.

 

Broken Windows Media Player

Hi,

Have you tried running the troubleshooter for WMP? If not, we suggest that you try to run the troubleshooter and
see if it helps. To run the troubleshooter, follow these steps:

• 
  On the search bar, type
  Troubleshooting.
  
• 
  Click on
  Programs.
  
• 
  Under
  Media
  Player, click on
  Windows Media Player Settings
  and
  Windows Media Player Library.
  

Let us know how it goes.

Regards.