Apple TV performace issues / glitches

[applehappy]

I've participated in several threads identifying performance problems and wanted to see if we could note performance problems in one thread. Not setup problems, but glitchy UI, movies pausing, content disappearing and reappearing etc. I'm not sure how common the problems I've experienced are.

So far I have identified the following causes of performace problems:

Glitchy UI and TV reboots/long pauses
- With my Sony 46" LCD and using HDMI I have experienced TV reboots, long lock-ups when switching selecting that input, and very patchy UI response times. When using Component input these problems completely go away.

Video playback pausing, locking up and streaming library content showing as not available randomly during playback of streamed content
- iTunes 7.6.1 is causing this. I've found the only way to clear this up for a few days is to reboot my Mac Mini Core 2 Duo. Just killing iTunes and restarting the app doesn't seem to clear it up as well.

 

[mindcrash]

re: pauses, stuttering while streaming: I'm having the same problems. Last night I was watching a movie and about 10 minutes in it just stopped for no apparent reason. I had to reboot my MacBook in the other room before it would work right.

Only slightly annoying.

 

[nfrankli]

I've noticed that my AppleTV has many more glitches and has required several reboots since Take 2.0. Though I only had it for a few weeks before Take 2.0 arrived so I can't be certain that is the issue.

Your observation that component has less glitches than HDMI is interesting. I wonder if the glitches have anything to do with Take 2.0 enabling 1080p. (previously only 1080i was enabled).

I have also noticed that the menus and response to remote button presses is much faster immediately after a reboot. To me that sounds like AppleTV 2.0 has some kind of memory leak or corruption that develops with use. Maybe they'll update 2.0 to fix this???

 

[f(A)t'kId]

Still glitchy with component

I've switched between component and hdmi and still get the jittery playback and pauses. Almost want to switch back to the last version until they get these problems sorted out.

 

[applehappy]

Well, my first post was a bit too confident. I've still experienced pausing video playback and UI lockups, but much less of it using composite and rebooting my mac more often.

 

[Koola]

I've experienced all of the above with Take 2. I hope Apple are able to release a update to correct all these issues soon. It really makes me want to go back to v1.1 again *sigh*.

 

[entropy1980]

Count me in on the stuttering... seems to be somewhat random on timing.... sometimes 5 minutes in sometimes not for 20 or more minutes.... very frustrating.

 

[entropy1980]

OK been trying some things to see if I can get it to work better here's what I have found:


1. Tried changing resolution (from 1080p to 1080i to 720p)
2. Power cycled switches and router (mine is connected via ethernet)
3. Tried connecting via 802.11n (airport)
4. Restarting AppleTV
5. Restarting computer

So basically after all that still had the problem. So as a last resort I tried removing all synced movies so I had space on the AppleTV. Now it's been 30 minutes no skipping! My guess at this point is that if the drive is near full or full there's no room to cache the stream and basically just like if you fill your desktop Mac's HD it gets squirrelly. Anyway just a guess but so far looks to have solved my problem.

 

[Koola]

So as a last resort I tried removing all synced movies so I had space on the AppleTV. Now it's been 30 minutes no skipping!

The problem with that is that I have 30'shGB free (40GB model) and the skipping/stuttering still persists when streaming or playing synced content. This is deffo a Take 2 bug that needs fixing by Apple soon. At the moment, my TV is completely useless for watching movies which is the main reason for purchasing.

Glad your able to watch content with out all these crazy bugs though

 

[Shoesy]

Stop eating chicago towns halfway through movies!

Just some ideas...

Regarding stuttering playback - I guess you've tried plugging your boxes into ethernet to remove the possibility that the wifi is getting funny through interference ( microwaves / train lines / cell phones - next doors rc car? )... It all sounds very much like interference problems to me.

Guess that doesn't explain the ui glitches (which admittedly I get occasionally too).

The only times I have atv reboot on me have been caused by legacy versions of eyetv making incompatible h264 files- this has been sorted for me with the latest version of elgato's excellent eyetv 3.

Hope all this helps!

 

[Forced Perfect]

Video playback works fine for me.

What's driving me nuts is some times when viewing your movies, selecting the next one using up or down on the remote is painfully slow with a load time of 2-4 seconds per menu item.

It seems the delay is caused by the fancy effect of turning the video preview image away from you. One it is applied I can move to the next item.

 

[Sparced]

Glitchy UI and TV reboots/long pauses
- With my Sony 46" LCD and using HDMI I have experienced TV reboots, long lock-ups when switching selecting that input, and very patchy UI response times. When using Component input these problems completely go away.

I have all these problems that were never apparent during the 1.1 firmware.

My Panasonic Viera 42" Plasma now has trouble receiving the HDMI signal. It will take a few minute to go from black till I'm able to see finally see the screensaver or the menu. Most of the time nothing happens and I get fed up of waiting so just restart which now takes a hell of a lot longer to get pass the Apple logo.

Messing about with settings doesn't change anything. I'll do a clean install tomorrow even though syncing all the content onto the 160GB will take hours on my G Network.

The 2.0 release was surely rushed to meet another one of their promises of getting it out on time. They need to seriously fix it now because its restricting me from using it anymore and I had planned to pick one up for my parents before all this hassle.

 

[Sparced]

Just watched No Country for Old Men that was stored on the Apple TV and had it pause twice through the film. I've probably got the full catalog of errors it was to also stream more.

For people who've only just bought it they must be really worried. I've at least got the hope that it can be put right again.

 

[Wingnut330]

I'm having the same issues with mine. I took it out of the box a couple of hours ago and based on this experience it's going back the Apple Store tomorrow. I can't imagine other first time buyers putting up with this either.

I switched from the Windows world in December and while I'm happy with my Mac products, they seem to be just as update dependent as Windows products. My OSX machines still update once a week or so and apparently this ATV needs updated too. I hear great things about these products working right out of the box, but so far, I'm not seeing it.

 

[kagharaht]

Quickest fix for weird behaviour

Put ATV to sleep.

Turn off Mac ( iTunes resides on )

Restart your wireless router. Airport, Linksys whatever....

Turn Mac back on.

Reboot ATV.

All should be smooth as silk after.

 

[wvuwhat]

From my experience, my 32" Sharp has no problems with HDMI. Instantaneously, it notices the HDMI input and changes to it. For reference, I have the newest Sharp, so on older T.V's it may be troublesome.

 

[applehappy]

Put ATV to sleep.

Turn off Mac ( iTunes resides on )

Restart your wireless router. Airport, Linksys whatever....

Turn Mac back on.

Reboot ATV.

All should be smooth as silk after.

I agree, I messed around with my airport extreme last week and it seems to have improved performance in just about every way on my apple tv.

 

[MikieMikie]

I agree, I messed around with my airport extreme last week and it seems to have improved performance in just about every way on my apple tv.

"Messed around" is too technical a term for me. What exactly did you do?

 

[applehappy]

"Messed around" is too technical a term for me. What exactly did you do?

Gotcha, early morning post in my previous, I can articulate better now on a proper amount of caffine in my system.

I forced a change in channel assignment and made sure I had no one within range using that channel. I "enabled interface robustness" whatever that does. Sorry, didn't think much of it at the time, so I wasn't keeping track...I may have altered some other settings as well.

I should have been more clear in my last post though, prior to "messing" with my airport extreme I was ocassionaly losing my entire iTunes library at tv. That has stopped, so I'm thinking it must have been a WiFi issue. I wasn't having these issues at all prior to Take 2. After working through the issues mentioned before in this thread though, I'm having much better/more reliable Apple TV performance.

 

[jim.arrows]

For people who've only just bought it they must be really worried. I've at least got the hope that it can be put right again.

+1

For anyone who's bought since Take2 was released, this is NOT how it used to be -- I have 2 TVs and they were rock-solid on 1.1, never had a single problem with either of them. Since the Take2 update I've noticed a LOT of UI glitches, hiccups, and just a general feeling of instability relative to how solid the previous release was; hopefully Apple is aware of the issues and 2.1 will be released soon to take care of these things. But as Sparced said, it didn't use to be this way, hopefully they can make it right again.

 

[DaBrain]

+1

For anyone who's bought since Take2 was released, this is NOT how it used to be -- I have 2 TVs and they were rock-solid on 1.1, never had a single problem with either of them. Since the Take2 update I've noticed a LOT of UI glitches, hiccups, and just a general feeling of instability relative to how solid the previous release was; hopefully Apple is aware of the issues and 2.1 will be released soon to take care of these things. But as Sparced said, it didn't use to be this way, hopefully they can make it right again.

Man this is disappointing to hear as I was just going to order one for my Mom. I think I'll wait until this is resolved. Bummer!

 

[Avatar74]

Man this is disappointing to hear as I was just going to order one for my Mom. I think I'll wait until this is resolved. Bummer!

Did you read the entire thread? Above the post you responded to there's a message indicating a series of things you should try before crying foul on AppleTV. At least one user reported it worked.

I know you don't presently have an AppleTV, but bear this in mind...

What really gets me is that people are quick to just throw out the baby with the bathwater and nobody wants to do a few simple troubleshooting steps to get to what's actually causing the problem.

Suffice it to say that I've encountered stuttering issues but there are a few things I haven't done... AND I haven't always had stuttering issues on 2.0... so that leads me to believe this is not an irreparable problem.

You guys need to think through these things a bit more. Every technology is going to have its glitches and complex technologies often have complex problems which require patience and systematic troubleshooting... It might not be one thing, it might be three things.... And you won't know until you systematically eliminate them all.

I had a problem with my speakers sounding muffled and crackling... Should I just throw my arms up and whine that my speakers dont work? After doing a bit of research, I found that there's a sudden loss of sound quality issue that arises with iTunes 7, but there are several fixes. People bitch and moan about one fix not working, without comprehending that the fix varies depending on WHAT factor caused the symptoms. Several factors can produce the same symptoms.

It's important that you don't throw your arms up in despair... So far I have not encountered any fatal, irreparable errors with AppleTV, but you just have to have some patience to take the time to actually solve the problem.

 

[applehappy]

Agree, this thread is to identify glitches that are common to many users and how to address them, if possible. Apple TV is incredible, I use it to view family photos, listen to music at my main system, and watch movies....both ripped and purchased/rented via iTunes. It is WAY worth the money, but Take 2 brought in a few bugs that need to be worked out. Not sure if the bugs are really apple TV or if Take 2 just exploits issues with WiFi, HDMI, and other interfaces....

 

[jim.arrows]

<snip>

Suffice it to say that I've encountered stuttering issues but there are a few things I haven't done... AND I haven't always had stuttering issues on 2.0... so that leads me to believe this is not an irreparable problem.

You guys need to think through these things a bit more. Every technology is going to have its glitches and complex technologies often have complex problems which require patience and systematic troubleshooting... It might not be one thing, it might be three things.... And you won't know until you systematically eliminate them all.

<snip>

It's important that you don't throw your arms up in despair... So far I have not encountered any fatal, irreparable errors with AppleTV, but you just have to have some patience to take the time to actually solve the problem.

As far as I know, nobody said it was irrepairable. My post was actually to encourage, rather than discourage, new users that it will hopefully get back to being as solid as it was on 1.1.

As far as taking time to solve the problem, when it worked perfectly for 8 months on 1.1 then 2.0 breaks things, there's nothing for me to solve. I'm sure Apple knows it has issues, and just as 10.5.0 wasn't as solid as 10.4.10, Take2 is not as solid as 1.1 -- no big deal, it's still completely useable and enjoyable, but for new users who may be discouraged that "this is just the way things are" that's not the case. But I'm sorry, I have nothing to fix, Apple does.