Just bought a new Apple TV and it won't sync. All of my playlists are shared. iTunes recognizes that ATV is there. I click on SYNC and the box turns grey but nothing happens. I've been trying to get this thing to work all day and night. I'm considering returning it to the store. Help.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Tv Won't Sync
- Thread starter f1pwv0
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I found that syncing for a big library took a while to start, and to sync - after which everything was fine.
Can you stream currently?
ps.
If you're having problems, I'd suggest plugging them both into Ethernet the first time to get everything going, then switch to wireless.
I can't do anything. I returned it to the store and exchanged it for another one. I still can't get it to work. I'm really not too good with computers but I followed the step by step instructions and it won't sync.
I downloaded the newest version of iTunes,
I changed my preferences so that my files are shared.
I even bought a crossover cable to connect Apple TV directly to my computer.
I know it's probably something very simple that I am missing but I don't know what it is. Someone please help.
I downloaded the newest version of iTunes,
I changed my preferences so that my files are shared.
I even bought a crossover cable to connect Apple TV directly to my computer.
I know it's probably something very simple that I am missing but I don't know what it is. Someone please help.
Maybe this will Help
I'm not sure if this will help but, when you say 'Sync" do you mean your music from itunes or a connection with appletv to itunes? If its the connection, make sure your router/wireless is setup for a secure connection to recognize the apple tv wireless nic
I'm not sure if this will help but, when you say 'Sync" do you mean your music from itunes or a connection with appletv to itunes? If its the connection, make sure your router/wireless is setup for a secure connection to recognize the apple tv wireless nic
Please discribe your setup to better understand your situation. Are you using a Mac or a PC?
A few questions...
1. When you click Sync in the host computer's iTunes, look at the list on the left hand side of the iTunes main window. Is there a progress wheel spinning next to the icon of your AppleTV?
2. What have you done to actually verify that the files are not synching to the AppleTV? In other words, when you are going through the menus of AppleTV to find the content, which "Source" are you viewing... "
TV" or the streaming computer?3. How long did you wait before checking to see if your synced content appears on the
TV menu?AWESOME! I'm not crazy!
This exact same thing happened to me. My G5 recognized the appleTV key and my iTunes properly listed my AppleTV as a device in the sidebar. Then it said it would begin syncing and then after less than a minute the AppleTV would vanish from the list of devices. You can then start the process again... renter your pin, let it begin to sync and then... *boom* it unmounts again.
I was about to take mine back too, but I just found out today that if I canceled the operation and changed it from syncing to streaming it would work. But what a bummer, I would really like to be able to figure this out. I'm an experienced 3D animator that has been using macs since System 7 and I have have working UNIX knowledge/experience. I have a feeling this problem is being ignored because the previous user admitted to being a novice.
This same behavior happened when I tried it on my MacPro at my office and my Dual G5 at home, the office machine has a small library... home has a big one, I tried it over ethernet and airport... same results. I don't run Apple's firewall software. Anymore ideas are welcome...
phinary
This exact same thing happened to me. My G5 recognized the appleTV key and my iTunes properly listed my AppleTV as a device in the sidebar. Then it said it would begin syncing and then after less than a minute the AppleTV would vanish from the list of devices. You can then start the process again... renter your pin, let it begin to sync and then... *boom* it unmounts again.
I was about to take mine back too, but I just found out today that if I canceled the operation and changed it from syncing to streaming it would work. But what a bummer, I would really like to be able to figure this out. I'm an experienced 3D animator that has been using macs since System 7 and I have have working UNIX knowledge/experience. I have a feeling this problem is being ignored because the previous user admitted to being a novice.
This same behavior happened when I tried it on my MacPro at my office and my Dual G5 at home, the office machine has a small library... home has a big one, I tried it over ethernet and airport... same results. I don't run Apple's firewall software. Anymore ideas are welcome...
phinary
Good to see you've tried multiple different access methods.
Can I ask - what is the AppleTV doing when this happens? Does it sync anything before it "disappears"?
(ps. I wasn't discounting the original poster because he was a novice, but I was wondering if he was genuine due to no follow-up)
There was no syncing before failure.
I was so sick of noodling with this thing I decided to try on a clean install of 10.4.9 and syncing worked fine. I'm sure that's not a fix that will help many others, but I was planning on doing a clean install anyway so I was indifferent. I can tell you I used the same library as before so I'm sure it has nothing to do with the library. It's gotta be a network thing, but I'm not sure what.
*shrug*
phinary
I am having the same problem
I have a PowerMac G5 Dual 2GHz 2 GB 10.4.9, the latest iTunes, and a brand new ATV. The ATV is connected via Ethernet, and iTunes recognizes it and installed it in its Devices section. iTunes says it's synching, and the little wheel next to the ATV device in iTunes is spinning. The ATV appears to say it's synching as well (Synching is enabled).
However, there is no traffic showing in the Network graph of the Mac Activity Monitor utility. These are Gig Ethernet devices, so I'd expect at least 100 Mbps of traffic, but I'm only seeing a few k bits per second -- essentially background traffic.
I've tried switching between streaming and synching, but I can't stream, either. When I go to Sources-MBeckman's Music on the ATF, it says "Loading MBeckman's Music" for about a minute, then it goes back to the previous menu.
I've tried rebooting the Mac, and the ATV, to no avail. This thing is essentially a brick if I can't get it to synch. Apple does not seem to have any phone support for the device (at least no menu options at 800-SOS-APPL).
Help!
-mel
I have a PowerMac G5 Dual 2GHz 2 GB 10.4.9, the latest iTunes, and a brand new ATV. The ATV is connected via Ethernet, and iTunes recognizes it and installed it in its Devices section. iTunes says it's synching, and the little wheel next to the ATV device in iTunes is spinning. The ATV appears to say it's synching as well (Synching is enabled).
However, there is no traffic showing in the Network graph of the Mac Activity Monitor utility. These are Gig Ethernet devices, so I'd expect at least 100 Mbps of traffic, but I'm only seeing a few k bits per second -- essentially background traffic.
I've tried switching between streaming and synching, but I can't stream, either. When I go to Sources-MBeckman's Music on the ATF, it says "Loading MBeckman's Music" for about a minute, then it goes back to the previous menu.
I've tried rebooting the Mac, and the ATV, to no avail. This thing is essentially a brick if I can't get it to synch. Apple does not seem to have any phone support for the device (at least no menu options at 800-SOS-APPL).
Help!
-mel
More testing, grim results
I've done a ton more testing with no joy. Here's what I've done:
1. Reinstalled iTunes three timnes
2. Reverted ATV to factory state three times
3. Turned firewall on and enabled sharing (firewall was always off before)
4. Checked system logs, including ipfw.log, but no mesages found
5. Changed Ethernet cables and intervening switch
6. Numerous iterations of switching between streaming and syncing
One time I was able to get streaming to work briefly, but then suddenly it quit. That got me to thinking about the traffic between the Mac and ATV. I ran the following command:
sudo tcpdump -vv host <IP of ATV>
This will capture all packets between the Mac and ATV. I get some small runs of traffic, but mostly communications is stalled. I see virtually no traffic between the Mac and ATV other than a few broadcast, a few multicast, and a few TCP when the password exchange takes place. But I do see this:
<Mac IP> -> <ATV IP> udp port 52451 unreachable for IP
This implies that the Mac is trying to reach the ATV but the ATV has UDP port 52451 unreachable. I ran XNmap against the ATF IP, and the following ports are open:
3689/tcp open rendezvous
123/udp open|filtered ntp
The Mac appears to be trying to reach the ATV on port 52451, but it's not responding.
-mel
I've done a ton more testing with no joy. Here's what I've done:
1. Reinstalled iTunes three timnes
2. Reverted ATV to factory state three times
3. Turned firewall on and enabled sharing (firewall was always off before)
4. Checked system logs, including ipfw.log, but no mesages found
5. Changed Ethernet cables and intervening switch
6. Numerous iterations of switching between streaming and syncing
One time I was able to get streaming to work briefly, but then suddenly it quit. That got me to thinking about the traffic between the Mac and ATV. I ran the following command:
sudo tcpdump -vv host <IP of ATV>
This will capture all packets between the Mac and ATV. I get some small runs of traffic, but mostly communications is stalled. I see virtually no traffic between the Mac and ATV other than a few broadcast, a few multicast, and a few TCP when the password exchange takes place. But I do see this:
<Mac IP> -> <ATV IP> udp port 52451 unreachable for IP
This implies that the Mac is trying to reach the ATV but the ATV has UDP port 52451 unreachable. I ran XNmap against the ATF IP, and the following ports are open:
3689/tcp open rendezvous
123/udp open|filtered ntp
The Mac appears to be trying to reach the ATV on port 52451, but it's not responding.
-mel
Eureka! Apparent kernel conflict
I rebooted holding down the shift key, to avoid loading any third-party kernel extensions, and now the ATV is syncing. So something installed on my machine is interfering with the ATV. I don't have that may third-party gadgets installed, so I should be able to isolate it now. But at least it is finally syncing!
-mel
I rebooted holding down the shift key, to avoid loading any third-party kernel extensions, and now the ATV is syncing. So something installed on my machine is interfering with the ATV. I don't have that may third-party gadgets installed, so I should be able to isolate it now. But at least it is finally syncing!
-mel
I also have sync problems.
I can initially make a connection and sync but at some (random) stage the connection stops. I can ping the ATV from the MAC, but itunes no longer finds ATV.
From the ATV I see 100% signal strength and the correct ip address. However, my MAc pro is blanked out in the sources screen and I can not sync or stream. Trying to select a trailer gets " can not find WLAN" or similar. (Even though I can ping the ATV at the same time.
On the rare occasions it does work, my network speed drops to a crawl whilst the ATV syncs.
My network is a bit strange. I have 3 rooms, one with the mac pro, one with the ATV and a third where my DSL line is connected. My Mac pro is connected to a wired lan to a D-link di-714p+ which has a dedicated wlan link to the ATV. Also off the 714 is a d-link bridge DLW-810 which makes a connection to my DSL route in the third room. This link is also the general purpose wlan.
I made the 714 a dedicated video wlan to reduce the "load" on my normal WLAN, they are on different channels and have different SSID & WEP keys.
Power down and reboot the ATV or the 714 usually clears the problem for a while.
I can initially make a connection and sync but at some (random) stage the connection stops. I can ping the ATV from the MAC, but itunes no longer finds ATV.
From the ATV I see 100% signal strength and the correct ip address. However, my MAc pro is blanked out in the sources screen and I can not sync or stream. Trying to select a trailer gets " can not find WLAN" or similar. (Even though I can ping the ATV at the same time.
On the rare occasions it does work, my network speed drops to a crawl whilst the ATV syncs.
My network is a bit strange. I have 3 rooms, one with the mac pro, one with the ATV and a third where my DSL line is connected. My Mac pro is connected to a wired lan to a D-link di-714p+ which has a dedicated wlan link to the ATV. Also off the 714 is a d-link bridge DLW-810 which makes a connection to my DSL route in the third room. This link is also the general purpose wlan.
I made the 714 a dedicated video wlan to reduce the "load" on my normal WLAN, they are on different channels and have different SSID & WEP keys.
Power down and reboot the ATV or the 714 usually clears the problem for a while.