Gen1 AppleTV issues

[JGruber]

Ok, so I've setup a iTunes server, to host all my music and movies, to be able to play through my Gen1 AppleTV, everything works great, no lag issues, quality is great, etc...

Only problem I have is that when I add new movies to my iTunes server, they don't show up in my list of movies on the AppleTV. I've of course added them to iTunes, and have the AppleTV setup to work with iTunes.

I'm NOT syncing my library to my AppleTV, just streaming.

I've found the only way to get the new movies to show up in the 'My Movies' on the AppleTV is to disconnect from my iTunes library, and re-add it.

 

[dmm219]

Ok, so I've setup a iTunes server, to host all my music and movies, to be able to play through my Gen1 AppleTV, everything works great, no lag issues, quality is great, etc...

Only problem I have is that when I add new movies to my iTunes server, they don't show up in my list of movies on the AppleTV. I've of course added them to iTunes, and have the AppleTV setup to work with iTunes.

I'm NOT syncing my library to my AppleTV, just streaming.

I've found the only way to get the new movies to show up in the 'My Movies' on the AppleTV is to disconnect from my iTunes library, and re-add it.

Yea, even though you are not syncing...the ATV still needs to "sync" to itunes before it will see new content. Its always been a pain because there is no easy way to initiate a sync FROM the ATV. You either have to do a sync from itunes or reboot the ATV.

 

[JGruber]

Yea, even though you are not syncing...the ATV still needs to "sync" to itunes before it will see new content. Its always been a pain because there is no easy way to initiate a sync FROM the ATV. You either have to do a sync from itunes or reboot the ATV.

Thanks for the info. I wish there was an option in ATV to reboot the device, I'll try a sync next time I need to update the content.

 

[Omne666]

Thats not actually correct. I have several ATV1s running in streaming mode....and when I add content, it literally shows up seconds later on the ATV. How do I know this? I'm usually sitting with my laptop, controlling my desktop, ripping/converting/adding to iTunes whilst looking at the ATV menu.

You should NOT need to reboot or disconnect/reconnect to the library. Absolute worst case I'd imagine would be quitting and restarting iTunes to get it to refresh the listing, and even then I'd call that a pain.

So...what then is the setting thats not refreshing your ATV menu list? That I dont have an answer for. But you should know....it should require no restart/relink to happen.

 

[JGruber]

Thats not actually correct. I have several ATV1s running in streaming mode....and when I add content, it literally shows up seconds later on the ATV. How do I know this? I'm usually sitting with my laptop, controlling my desktop, ripping/converting/adding to iTunes whilst looking at the ATV menu.

You should NOT need to reboot or disconnect/reconnect to the library. Absolute worst case I'd imagine would be quitting and restarting iTunes to get it to refresh the listing, and even then I'd call that a pain.

So...what then is the setting thats not refreshing your ATV menu list? That I dont have an answer for. But you should know....it should require no restart/relink to happen.

I've tried everything I can think of.

Could it be because my movies and music are on a external USB drive connected to my AEBS (apple extreme base station), and I've added them via mapped drive?

 

[omni]

I'm at work, not at home - so bear with me.

I have 3 apple tv gen 1's and I don't sync anything, and anytime I add something - all the apple tv's get updated.

Ok - i take that back, I do sync photos...but I don't think that part matters.

So the tabs with movies, music, tv shows, etc - there should be an option to sync - check that. But then it's going to ask you what to sync, and check nothing.

I NEVER reboot or disconnect the appletv.

If you can't figure it out - when i get home, i'll try to take screenshots of how my appletv's are all set up.

Worse comes to worse, right click sync on the appletv itself from itunes.

The only problem i haven't been able to solve is watch a movie in the living room appletv and stop in the middle of it. turn it off, go to the bedroom and have it know exactly where the movie was so i could finish it. I have a workaround (right click sync them individually) but haven't been able to find a better solution.

Fake Edit: all my media is on a drobo, so that has nothing to do with it.

 

[JGruber]

I'm at work, not at home - so bear with me.

I have 3 apple tv gen 1's and I don't sync anything, and anytime I add something - all the apple tv's get updated.

Ok - i take that back, I do sync photos...but I don't think that part matters.

So the tabs with movies, music, tv shows, etc - there should be an option to sync - check that. But then it's going to ask you what to sync, and check nothing.

I NEVER reboot or disconnect the appletv.

If you can't figure it out - when i get home, i'll try to take screenshots of how my appletv's are all set up.

Worse comes to worse, right click sync on the appletv itself from itunes.

The only problem i haven't been able to solve is watch a movie in the living room appletv and stop in the middle of it. turn it off, go to the bedroom and have it know exactly where the movie was so i could finish it. I have a workaround (right click sync them individually) but haven't been able to find a better solution.

Fake Edit: all my media is on a drobo, so that has nothing to do with it.

So basically allow it to sync the movies, but remove the check marks for each one?

 

[jcschlic]

Quit iTunes, then start it back up. This will "sync" the new data.

 

[dmm219]

Thats not actually correct. I have several ATV1s running in streaming mode....and when I add content, it literally shows up seconds later on the ATV. How do I know this? I'm usually sitting with my laptop, controlling my desktop, ripping/converting/adding to iTunes whilst looking at the ATV menu.

You should NOT need to reboot or disconnect/reconnect to the library. Absolute worst case I'd imagine would be quitting and restarting iTunes to get it to refresh the listing, and even then I'd call that a pain.

So...what then is the setting thats not refreshing your ATV menu list? That I dont have an answer for. But you should know....it should require no restart/relink to happen.

All I'll say is that I've have two ATV1s for 3 years...and they NEVER update just because I add something to itunes. Only after I manually sync, either on itunes, or by resetting the ATV do they show up. Now, the odd thing is that on ATV2, stuff DOES show up right away...

Maybe its a bug...but its a well known one.

Of course, the only thing I forgot, is you have to make sure you have checked to view all content in your library, not just synced content...I assume the OP already knew this.

My solution was pretty simple, I tend to keep all my AV equip connected to a belkin blue tooth power strip. I do this more to save energy than anything else...but its super easy to reset the ATV this way...just hit the belkin switch and reset everything...

 

[omni]

forum weirdness

 

[omni]

I'm home - not sure if you figured it out or not but here goes:

settings tab:
Custom Sync (nothing else checked)
make sure to NOT click the box that says, 'show only the synced items on my apple tv' -NOTHING ELSE SHOULD BE CLICKED ON THIS PAGE

Movies tab:
Sync Movies is checked
nothing else is checked - literally nothing else

Tv Shows tab:
Sync TV Shows is checked
nothing else is checked

Music Tab
Sync Music is checked
nothing else is checked

Sync Podcasts
(nothing is checked - not into podcasts but this shouldn't matter)

iTunes U
(again - nothing is checked)

Photos
Sync photos is checked (from iphoto)
Selected albums, events and faces, etc is checked
random events, etc are checked (this copies the photos to the appletv itself)

If you need screenshots, let me know - but that is all i've ever done to my appletv and it's been flawless for updating.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

All I'll say is that I've have two ATV1s for 3 years...and they NEVER update just because I add something to itunes. Only after I manually sync, either on itunes, or by resetting the ATV do they show up. Now, the odd thing is that on ATV2, stuff DOES show up right away...

Maybe its a bug...but its a well known one.

Actually, its just the diferent ways the ATV1 & 2 handles your media libraries info.

iTunes syncs your libraries media info (ie. Titles, descriptions, artwork?, etc.) to the ATV1 itself. That's why when you browse on it, the info comes up faster than the ATV2. So that is why you have to manually 'sync' it from the iTunes end, so that the info gets updated on the ATV1.

However, the ATV2 doesn't get all that info sync'd to it. It queries/caches it while you are browsing it. That's why you get a momentary lag when look up a new title on ATV2.

Does that explain it a little better?

HTH