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Apple TV 4K HDR - Factory reset issue

J

Jamie-T

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 13, 2022
6
1
Hi All,

Does anyone know of a way to factory reset these things without a network connection or using a remote?

I have some Apple TV 4K HDR units that are managed by JAMF Pro. They are locked in to conference mode, which prevents users from using the ATV remote to do anything other than wake up the device.

This was working fine and as expected, until we had a network certificate issue while these devices were offline, (being stored awaiting install). Now I have the problem that they all need to be wiped, but the remote doesn't work and they have lost their network connection so I can remotely wipe them with JAMF.

They all power up and display on a screen.

I've tried apple support, waiting on info back.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Jamie-T said:
Hi All,

Does anyone know of a way to factory reset these things without a network connection or using a remote?

I have some Apple TV 4K HDR units that are managed by JAMF Pro. They are locked in to conference mode, which prevents users from using the ATV remote to do anything other than wake up the device.

This was working fine and as expected, until we had a network certificate issue while these devices were offline, (being stored awaiting install). Now I have the problem that they all need to be wiped, but the remote doesn't work and they have lost their network connection so I can remotely wipe them with JAMF.

They all power up and display on a screen.

I've tried apple support, but to be honest, I would have had more success starring at drying paint for an hour.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
No as there’s no factor reset option so anything requires the remote to work or at least an iPhone software remote. Sounds like you need to reach out to the JAMF people and if they’ve locked you out permanently they owe you some Apple TV’s.
 
Sheepish-Lord said:
No as there’s no factor reset option so anything requires the remote to work or at least an iPhone software remote. Sounds like you need to reach out to the JAMF people and if they’ve locked you out permanently they owe you some Apple TV’s.
Click to expand...

Hi Sheepish-Lord,

It's not a JAMF issue per se, it's something we did as part of the management of the devices and something that normally works flawlessly.
I just seems odd to me that apple would have a product that cannot be reset using a cable, a pin reset or a combination of buttons on the remote.
 
Jamie-T said:
Hi Sheepish-Lord,

It's not a JAMF issue per se, it's something we did as part of the management of the devices and something that normally works flawlessly.
I just seems odd to me that apple would have a product that cannot be reset using a cable, a pin reset or a combination of buttons on the remote.
Click to expand...
But then isn’t that one of the benefits of using JAMF in the first place that it protects your devices.
Would be a bit of a fail on their part if a device could easily be reset thus bypassing their device management security protocols.
I’d say your best bet is reaching out to JAMF and see if they can advise what to do.
 
Jamie-T said:
Hi All,

Does anyone know of a way to factory reset these things without a network connection or using a remote?

I have some Apple TV 4K HDR units that are managed by JAMF Pro. They are locked in to conference mode, which prevents users from using the ATV remote to do anything other than wake up the device.

This was working fine and as expected, until we had a network certificate issue while these devices were offline, (being stored awaiting install). Now I have the problem that they all need to be wiped, but the remote doesn't work and they have lost their network connection so I can remotely wipe them with JAMF.

They all power up and display on a screen.

I've tried apple support, but to be honest, I would have had more success starring at drying paint for an hour.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
You said you ‘tried Apple support’, so were they able to actually provide any troubleshooting steps or you simply just couldn’t get a hold of them?
 
-Gonzo- said:
But then isn’t that one of the benefits of using JAMF in the first place that it protects your devices.
Would be a bit of a fail on their part if a device could easily be reset thus bypassing their device management security protocols.
I’d say your best bet is reaching out to JAMF and see if they can advise what to do.
Click to expand...
Hey Gonzo,

Agreed, why have it and be able to bypass it. That said, this isn't bypassing the security side as the devices are still in our Apple School Manager account and in JAMF. So if the device was wiped and reloaded, it will get the config from our JAMF server, which is actually what I want to happen.

Thanks
 
Relentless Power said:
You said you ‘tried Apple support’, so were they able to actually provide any troubleshooting steps or you simply just couldn’t get a hold of them?
Click to expand...

Hi Relentless Power,

No resolution yet, but I have a follow up call today, so fingers crossed.

Thanks
 
Hi All,

Thanks for you comments.
Apple came through on this one. Turning the ATV off and on a few times causes it to go in to recovery mode and from there I was able to "Reset all settings" - Job done!

Huge thanks to my tech support case handler for looking in to it and getting back to me.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
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Jamie-T said:
Turning the ATV off and on a few times causes it to go in to recovery mode and from there I was able to "Reset all settings"
Click to expand...
Hi Jamie-T
Could you please share the exact procedure, how to put aTV 4K into recovery mode?
Is it a specific count of on/off cycles, that counts? Or some other trick?
 
Hi all,

The process for this is:

  1. Pair a remote to the ATV
  2. Press and hold "Home + Menu" for 5 seconds or until ATV reboots
  3. Once booted back up, repeat the reboot process 5 times or until it enters "Recovery Mode"
  4. From there you can choose to "Reset all settings"

Little note on this though:
  1. Pressing Home + Menu didn't always reboot the ATV. So to get around this I flipped the power off and on, which simulated a reboot using the remote.
  2. I was using the black, 2nd gen ATV remote with the touch panel at the top. This stopped responding once I got in to recovery mode, so I had to use a slim silver, 1st gen remote to press up and select reset all settings.
Hope this helps anyone out there having a similar issue.

Thanks,
 
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