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Problem with iTunes dropping AppleTV
- Thread starter jersey10
- Start date
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I'm having this problem. Seems to have only started for me in the last few months - perhaps since I changed my Mac Pro from 'never sleep' to 'sleep after 3 hours'.
I have to quit iTunes and re-launch it to get the Apple TV connected again. Restarting the Apple TV doesn't help.
I have to quit iTunes and re-launch it to get the Apple TV connected again. Restarting the Apple TV doesn't help.
Do you have "Wake on wireless" checked on?...although this only works with Airport Express/Extreme supposedly and Snow Leopard.
But sure, if your Mac Pro goes offline, ATV won't be able to find it. That's your problem right there.
Mine started doing this when I starts using a Dlink wireless N AP. I switched it back to G on my 2wire and haven't dropped since.
My Apple TV is connected to my Mac Pro via Ethernet, and using an Airport Extreme (latest version), and I have 'wake for ethernet access' checked.
Firstly, the Apple TV should be able to find the Mac Pro because as you mentioned the Airport Extreme should be able to wake the Mac Pro.
Secondly, when the Mac Pro wakes, the content still doesn't show on the Apple TV,and the Apple TV is missing from the iTunes devices list. I'm not sure whether it is sleep that causes the Apple TV to disappear from the devices list (ie. whether it's failing to reconnect after wake).
An early 2008 Mac Pro (per your signature line) may not have wake on ethernet capability. It was written into Snow Leopard, yes, but only newer Macs have the hardware to take advantage of that technology. I know that my "early 2008 iMac does not.
Try changing your CPU sleep setting to "Never". That's what did it for me.
Actually I think all Macs for many years have had this functionality in hardware, just not specifically in the OS. There has been a WakeOnLAN utility for the Mac available at least since 2006: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15779/wakeonlan
Since my last post in this thread, I've upgraded my wireless router to Netgear's top of the line dual-band unit (briefly tried another brand router, but it was AWFUL in both reception and administrative operations). The 5GHz band doesn't reach as far as the 2.4GHz band, but it does seem a bit faster where the signal is good and the 2.4GHz band seems stronger and more stable than the previous router as well.
The point is since the upgrade about 6 weeks ago, I haven't had a SINGLE problem (knock on wood) with my Apple TV units. While iTunes stopped dropping them a long time ago, the unit farthest away would "not respond" inside iTunes sometimes and that would require quitting iTunes and restarting it to get it to sync again. Needless to say that was a bit annoying. Plus the old Netgear router sometimes seemed to stop responding to its wireless network about every 6-9 weeks or so (I would have to reset it to get it to work again) and either one is annoying when you just want to sit down and watch a movie, not run upstairs to reset the network.
I hate to jump to conclusions after only 6 weeks, but it seems that a strong reliable network signal is key here to having no issues with Apple TV. The 5GHz band even has some kind of video stabilization mode that alters the behavior to get consistency over absolute speed. All I know is everything has been running pretty smooth since the upgrade. I haven't had to reset the router yet either, although I do think "something" isn't quite right in that the "shared" computer list often seems to be missing my printers, etc. That respond if contacted just fine, but OSX seems to lose track of them after awhile (a few days?). That rarely if ever happened on the old router, but it had more annoying issues like the aforementioned wireless channel stopping working until reset. There's still firmware upgrades appearing for it so hopefully any final bugs will get ironed out (they never did for the previous router so I won't hold my breath, but as bad as Netgear appears in some areas, I've read worse reviews about some other units these days and personally experienced it on I tried before this one. It seems like the days of a reliable 24/7 wireless network like some of my relatives have on their old "G" network devices simply may not exist today. I don't think companies take enough time to troubleshoot these things before they release them.
The point is since the upgrade about 6 weeks ago, I haven't had a SINGLE problem (knock on wood) with my Apple TV units. While iTunes stopped dropping them a long time ago, the unit farthest away would "not respond" inside iTunes sometimes and that would require quitting iTunes and restarting it to get it to sync again. Needless to say that was a bit annoying. Plus the old Netgear router sometimes seemed to stop responding to its wireless network about every 6-9 weeks or so (I would have to reset it to get it to work again) and either one is annoying when you just want to sit down and watch a movie, not run upstairs to reset the network.
I hate to jump to conclusions after only 6 weeks, but it seems that a strong reliable network signal is key here to having no issues with Apple TV. The 5GHz band even has some kind of video stabilization mode that alters the behavior to get consistency over absolute speed. All I know is everything has been running pretty smooth since the upgrade. I haven't had to reset the router yet either, although I do think "something" isn't quite right in that the "shared" computer list often seems to be missing my printers, etc. That respond if contacted just fine, but OSX seems to lose track of them after awhile (a few days?). That rarely if ever happened on the old router, but it had more annoying issues like the aforementioned wireless channel stopping working until reset. There's still firmware upgrades appearing for it so hopefully any final bugs will get ironed out (they never did for the previous router so I won't hold my breath, but as bad as Netgear appears in some areas, I've read worse reviews about some other units these days and personally experienced it on I tried before this one. It seems like the days of a reliable 24/7 wireless network like some of my relatives have on their old "G" network devices simply may not exist today. I don't think companies take enough time to troubleshoot these things before they release them.
Possible Fix
Hello all
I have had all the problems on this thread, including the problems highlighted with snow leopard and lastly iTunes 10 - sometimes ATV would show up and then finally it dropped off and I couldn't get it back up at all. iTunes on my computer wouldn't even recognise the ATV when it was ethernet connected.
I tried fixing the IP address of the ATV - and so far this has worked for me - working wirelessly fine.
Hello all
I have had all the problems on this thread, including the problems highlighted with snow leopard and lastly iTunes 10 - sometimes ATV would show up and then finally it dropped off and I couldn't get it back up at all. iTunes on my computer wouldn't even recognise the ATV when it was ethernet connected.
I tried fixing the IP address of the ATV - and so far this has worked for me - working wirelessly fine.