Apple TV brings sadness

[ecopod]

I treated myself to an Apple TV last week and all was well for about three days. Last night itunes would not recognise the unit (common issue from number of posts) and no amount of tweaking helps (factory restart, net barrier workarounds, resetting network etc etc). The chap on the help line got to little more than restarting itunes.

If this is going to be the norm for itv I wish I hadn't bothered. I've always been impressed by the connectivity of apple product until now.

This is my first 'Apple' let down and I guess I'm just letting off a tiny amount of steam.

 

[dbhays]

This was an issue with itunes, not your TV. My TV was doing the same thing, until itunes was working properly. I feel your frustration though.

 

[kolax]

If you are blaming iTunes, then iTunes 8 is probably the culprit.. Although in saying that, I've had no problems at all with iTunes 8 and my Apple TV. It always shows up, and it syncs perfectly.

However, I'd recommend checking your router settings and seeing what your Wireless Channel is. I've had issues with certain channels, causing the Apple TV not to always connect to iTunes, or the internet in fact, even though it is connected to the wireless network.

I'm currently using "Channel 9" without any problems. I'd change the wireless channel and see if that helps. It might be, that your neighbour has bought a new wireless router and it is operating on the same channel, thus causing interference and maybe causing the Apple TV to drop the signal.

 

[mpshay]

Yet another reason I'm glad I went through the trouble to run Cat 6 throughout the house! I still have wifi, but only use for my ipod touch and occasional lap top use. TVs and my mac mini media serves are all connected via Ethernet.

 

[ecopod]

Cockahoop and over joyed

Kilamite, you were spot on, many many thanks.

Went through the channels and no 11 did it, now syncing and can't wait to watch.

My lova affair with all things apple is back on.

 

[kolax]

Kilamite, you were spot on, many many thanks.

Went through the channels and no 11 did it, now syncing and can't wait to watch.

My lova affair with all things apple is back on.

Ah, good stuff! Happy Apple TVing

Good to know I helped a fellow 'Burghian!

 

[ecopod]

Well I never

the whole world on-line and you're in Edinburgh, what are the odds.

Thanks again.

 

[pfmarcela]

ohhhh you so helped me!

If you are blaming iTunes, then iTunes 8 is probably the culprit.. Although in saying that, I've had no problems at all with iTunes 8 and my Apple TV. It always shows up, and it syncs perfectly.

However, I'd recommend checking your router settings and seeing what your Wireless Channel is. I've had issues with certain channels, causing the Apple TV not to always connect to iTunes, or the internet in fact, even though it is connected to the wireless network.

I'm currently using "Channel 9" without any problems. I'd change the wireless channel and see if that helps. It might be, that your neighbour has bought a new wireless router and it is operating on the same channel, thus causing interference and maybe causing the Apple TV to drop the signal.

My ATV suddently disappeared from itunes and was no longer connecting to the internet (even though it had before with the exact SAME wifi configuration) - the bug was "cannot connect to the internet". I was trying for hours to find out what was wrong with my settings, googled, visit apple's support website... yours was the only help that actually worked. Nice job! My hero!!
btw, channel # 9 on netgear wpn802v2!

 

[jamesdmc]

A little off topic, but

...I'm glad I went through the trouble to run Cat 6 throughout the house...

I'm envious of you. I currently have an appointment for Best Buy for Business to come out and give me a quote for what it would take to do the same thing in my house. They're asking $135 just for the onsite appraisal (applied to the labor charges if I let them do the work), so I'm scared to think what the actual job will cost. But the thought of having everything wired and streaming blu ray rips throughout the house is incredibly enticing.


My apologies to the OP. Now back to the subject at hand.

 

[v4111]

Yet another reason I'm glad I went through the trouble to run Cat 6 throughout the house! I still have wifi, but only use for my ipod touch and occasional lap top use. TVs and my mac mini media serves are all connected via Ethernet.

One of my favorite memories with my father was doing this. We ran 100' of cat-5 cable under the house to reach my bedroom. We had to wire our own RJ-45 plugs, but instead of using an ethernet crimper to push the pins down, we just used out teeth. This was back when you couldn't buy buy a router, only a switch.

With 3 computers in the house, all within yelling distance of each other, we owned every 3v3 BGH! game.

Happy early fathers day, Dad! ;]

 

[markfc]

Yet another reason I'm glad I went through the trouble to run Cat 6 throughout the house! I still have wifi, but only use for my ipod touch and occasional lap top use. TVs and my mac mini media serves are all connected via Ethernet.

Yep Ditto. Problem free cat6 here to.

 

[phillipjfry]

Ok so, are you guys running the cat6 under the floor, in the walls, under just the carpet? This idea intrigues me...

 

[pjarvi]

In my apartment I just use a simple rubber strip across the floor that has the cable run inside it to cross the hall between the kitchen and living room (internet is in the kitchen in a computer nook). There are plenty of products for concealing and protecting cables available at department stores, office supply stores, and home improvement stores. I also use vertical covered tracks for concealing wires dangling from electronics, they just stick to the wall with double-sided tape.

Running cables through walls is also fairly easy. You can cut a hole in drywall very easily, use a flexible drill bit (several feet long) to cut a hole through framing, and fish tape to pull lines through. The drill bit can be bought for around $40, and the fish tape for under $20. The only tricky bit is making sure you don't cut or drill into any electrical wires or plumbing.

I'm much more a fan of investing in the tools to do something myself, rather than paying someone to do it for me. The tools will typically pay for themselves the first time they're used. There are also plenty of videos online these days that show you how to do everything.

 

[Dino1956]

Yea but what happens when you keep losing Synch even if it's Wired by Ethernet ? That is my Story. Opened Ports on Router, Test Account, Erase & Install of Leopard, Unplugged Phones (Interference), You name it! I've done it. It'll synch for 2 days straight & then gone. At first I thought my Mac going to sleep was the cause, but that's not it. Maybe it's my TV. I have it hooked to my old eMac right now & it seems to be keeping Synch. But it's too early to tell. Oh yea, the Mac Mini was plugged in by Ethernet also. So in my case, it's not a Wireless problem.

 

[kadeschs]

Yea but what happens when you keep losing Synch even if it's Wired by Ethernet ? That is my Story. Opened Ports on Router, Test Account, Erase & Install of Leopard, Unplugged Phones (Interference), You name it! I've done it. It'll synch for 2 days straight & then gone.

I have the same problem. If I restart ATV, it comes back. I use Windows and have sleep functions turned off. It's more of an annoyance than anything because ATV takes a little bit to reboot. I shouldn't have to do that every couple days.

 

[Liquide]

Totally Wired, But Apple TV and iTunes Keep Losing Each Other

Like Dino1956, I too am totally wired. I'm running a 100% GigE ethernet setup (except of course for the apple TV, as it only sports a 100 Mbps ethernet adapter). The server is a headless 2008 Mac mini, running 24x7 as the iTunes server. The cabling is Cat 6, the terminations are all GigE qualified. The switch is GigE rated. The router is a GigE Apple AirPort Extreme. Even the patch cables are all gigE rated. I'm 100% up-to-date with all applications, etc., including firmware on the AirPort Extreme and software (Apple TV, AirPort Utility, Leopard, Java security patches, etc.).

The problem is not my network. And by the way, I've been running this way for a couple of years with no network issues. As a result of having such a strong and fast network, I run everything on a streamed basis. Besides, the content I serve up is over 1.5 Gigs, so synching makes no sense for me.

My problem is that the apple TV just keeps disappearing from iTunes - something I had never experienced while running in the same configuration for the last couple of years. I can temporarily get the two working together again by quitting iTunes and re-starting, but it's getting more than a little old doing so daily or more frequently (especially since re-starting iTunes causes all the content to have to be acquired again from the attached storage devices - and that takes 3-4 minutes to do).

For a more permanent fix, I've tried all the home remedies that Google has brought to my attention, and that includes: Killing every iTunes plist file; Removing iTunes, dowloading a fresh copy and starting over; Re-pairing the apple TV and iTunes with a new code; Re-booting the apple TV; etc. While these "fixes" all work temporarily, they never last long. Usually, the problem resurfaces within a few hours or less (sometimes in the middle of watching a movie - it's easy to tell when, as I begin to get stutters). Over the last month and a little, I haven't been able to keep the two connected for more than a day.

Anyone have any constructive ideas on how to correct the problem or advice as to where to seek an answer?

 

[d21mike]

Wanted to add something that has been happening to me for a while. I am running wireless so I assumed that is the problem until reading the last post. My problem is everytime it looses the connection to iTunes it also looses the connection to the internet. My problem is that it looses the connection to the Wireless Router. When reconnecting I have to re-enter the wireless security passphase. Why would it not keep the passphase. All of my other devices never loose the passphase (including my iPhone).

 

[Advance The Man]

Kilamite, you were spot on, many many thanks.

Went through the channels and no 11 did it, now syncing and can't wait to watch.

My lova affair with all things apple is back on.

Could someone provide a 101 on how to check what channels the router (in my case Airport Extreme, the newer one) and check what channel on the ATV?

 

[kolax]

Could someone provide a 101 on how to check what channels the router (in my case Airport Extreme, the newer one) and check what channel on the ATV?

Open AirPort Utility, select your Airport Extreme and click on the wireless tab then select Channel. There's nothing on your Apple TV you need to change.

Might need to try out a few channels and see which one works.

 

[dnmoqf]

sadness indeed

I regularly get (on my appletv):
White Screen of Death.
When it cant authorize with Apple Store, it immediately deletes all content,
wonderful. Awesome.
It stops finding itunes and won't sync new titles.

How to fix? Bleh, remove cord from unit and let it reboot. Uhm, yeah nice.
Well that does not help authorization issues.
And you gotta wait for it to copy back everything it deletes.
And then wait for the next time it happens.

Yuck, buyers remorse indeed.

 

[Advance The Man]

I regularly get (on my appletv):
White Screen of Death.
When it cant authorize with Apple Store, it immediately deletes all content,
wonderful. Awesome.
It stops finding itunes and won't sync new titles.

How to fix? Bleh, remove cord from unit and let it reboot. Uhm, yeah nice.
Well that does not help authorization issues.
And you gotta wait for it to copy back everything it deletes.
And then wait for the next time it happens.

Yuck, buyers remorse indeed.

It is getting more common (3x a week or so for both ATV's). I never heard back (not even a confirmation) on the two service tickets I put in about the issue. Put one via iTunes service and the ATV service.