Hi Guys, I have a Surface Pro X (ARM processor) running Win 10 Home. I have a Western Digital (WD) My Cloud Home device connected to my network running Plex. There is an app called WD Discovery, which enables you to map and see the Plex Drive & Folders in Windows File Explorer. Once logged in to WD Discovery and the Plex Drive is mapped, you can copy and paste media directly to the appropriate shared drives on the Plex Drive. Very efficient. But the mapping disappears when you log off the app. And WD Discovery does not work on my Surface Pro X, because the software does not run on ARM-based machines. I am using it on my secondary laptop, which is a Core i7 machine.
Is there another app, or a way I can use Plex Media Server to map the Plex Drive & Folders into Windows File Explorer, so that I can add, delete, and edit my media library?? It appears that Western Digital’s My Cloud device allows Plex usage, but it blocks the Plex Drive mappings.
Practically every NAS device is offering its file shares via the SMB/CIFS protocol. Which is the Windows version of a local network file sharing protocol.
You can access these file shares by opening the default Windows file explorer.
Then place the mouse pointer into the address bar at the top and type \\nasname\sharename +Enter
You will have to replace nasname and sharename with what your nas is using.
Normally, you should even be able to see your NAS device simply by opening the “Network Neighborhood” in Windows.
Hi Otto, thanks for the reply. As it turns out, WD My Cloud Home restricts the mapping of the Plex Drive. You can map the Public Drive only. It’s not an open NAS device; it’s proprietary. I guess this product is only for beginners; which is fine. I have limited Network knowledge. That said, my understanding is other My Cloud Home devices do have this feature. I have a work around to this problem, but may also invest in a full blown NAS device in the near future.
If you still think I am wrong, please let me know. I tried your solution above, but it didn’t work. Mapping options in Windows File Explorer for the Plex folder on the WD My Cloud Home device are greyed out.
Ah, so you want to access the Plex data folder and not the media files themselves over the network, right?
Yeah, the WD MyCloud Home devices are quite restricted.
They run on Android, contrary to the majority of other NAS devices, which usually use some more or less modified form of Linux.
And Android is quite restrictive when it comes to let the end user access the “innards” of the system.
No. Actually, for example, I wanted to map the following folder; which contains MP4 media files (TV show episodes) on one of my WD Cloud Home devices:
\RBCCloud 1\Plex\Shared TV Shows\The Honeymooners
As mentioned, if you attempt to map that path, the Western Digital (WD) My Cloud Home device doesn’t allow it. It won’t even display it. It keeps the Plex folder hidden. It not accessible. My theory is that the only way you can add/change/delete media files to a WD My Cloud Home Plex folder is to use the WD Discovery app, or by using the WD My Cloud Home web based app. It’s a theory, because I have been unsuccessful in getting a straightforward answer from Plex or WD. Attempts at providing me with help have been greatly appreciated, but they have either been incorrect or ambiguous. So, in the mean time, as a workaround, I am using the WD My Cloud Home web based app on my Surface Pro X (SPX) for file management, because WD Discovery is not yet compatible with machines with ARM-based processors. I heard only just today that an ARM-based version of WD Discovery will be available very soon. That would be great! Fingers crossed it’s very soon indeed.
So, I was reaching out to this forum to see if my aforementioned theory is correct (the Plex drive cannot be mapped using Windows File Explorer); or, if there is a problem in how my SPX is currently configured.
It’s a perplexing and frustrating situation; but I just think that the WD My Cloud Home device has restrictions and limitations. If so, it is what it is.
Again, if I’m wrong, please advise if/how I can implement another workaround.
