Apple TV Losing Computer Library

I have an iMac with iTunes Library and Home Sharing. iTunes and OS X are both on the latest versions. I use an ATV3 in the living room to stream movies, photos, music. Since the latest iTunes update, I have at least one issue per day where the ATV3 loses the connection to iTunes. The only way to get this back is to reboot the iMac. All other devices that use Home Sharing (iPad, iPhone and even a MBA with iTunes) are able to connect without issue. It's the ATV3 and the other ATV2 I have in the basement that lose the connection. It's driving me crazy. Any thoughts?

I had the same exact problem that only a single song would play and either stop at the end or when I hit the forward to next song right arrow, but then I read another post that advised to check all the songs in iTunes and that solved the problem.
Now when I want to sync my iPhone using iTunes I created a separate playlist just for my iPhone and sync it to that since all the songs in iTunes are now checked to play seamlessly with my Apple TV.

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One solution for Apple TV losing connection to its iTunes Library

In 2012 I bought an Apple TV3 to let me use the AirPlay features of my New iPad with my HD TV. All worked fine and still does. Later in 2012 I subscribed to Netflix and enjoyed streaming movies to my HD TV via the Apple TV. Having had such a good experience with it so far I bought another for our bedroom TV and another for a relative, hoping they would have the same great experience with it.
Both of my Apple TV units at my house have worked flawlessly since installing them. We can start watching a Netflix movie downstairs then go upstairs and carry on where the movie left off.
At my relative's house the experience was not so flawless and has resulted in about 2 months of frustration but happily their AppleTV3 is now also working as expected. It has been quite a journey to get to this point and had a surprising solution.
I am the 'go-to' person in my family for these things so I installed the Apple TV for my relative.
My relative has a Windows XP (SP3) PC running the latest iTunes (11.0.2), a BTHomeHub 2 router, connected by WiFi to the Apple TV. The PC was connected by ethernet cable to the router. I installed the Apple TV, set up the hdmi connection to the HD TV, connected it to the WiFi network, upgraded to the latest iTunes on the PC, added the Apple ID for Home Sharing to iTunes and the Apple TV and could connect to the iTunes library on the PC, all good so far. I could play video or music or podcast or view photos from the iTunes library on the PC but after a short time (a few minutes or so), if I tried to play a different video or music track the I would get the familiar spinning icon and the Apple TV would not play the media file. Often the Apple TV would still show the contents of the iTunes library but would not play anything from it. When it was in this state it was still possible to play iTunes Trailers or Purchased content or a Youtube video or display photos from my library. This proved it was still connected to the internet and to some extent my library on the PC because it could display photos.
Initially I thought it was a WiFi problem as that was how the Apple TV was connected to the router. So as I already had a Powerline ethernet link running from the router to the TV for the Humax Freeview box for the BBC iPlayer, I ordered a small network switch to share the Powerline ethernet cable with the Apple TV. However the same drooping connection problems were apparent. I tried changing the QoS settings on the Powerline link, tried to prioritise TCP or UDP or both , but no improvement. I decided to abandon the Powerline link in case it was 'too slow', perhaps that was the issue.
I tried one of the Apple TV units from my house, where they were working fine and I got the same problem, at my relative's house it behaved like their unit, it would connect play a movie (all the way through if we let it) but after a few minutes if trying to play something else it would not play anything further. I tried their Apple TV at my house and it worked there, so the unit was not at fault.
At various times while troubleshooting these problems I have unistalled iTunes, reinstalled it, uninstalled Bonjour, reinstalled it (it comes with iTunes), searched the registry and cleaned it (Warning: do this at your own risk as you risk destabilising Windows), I have tried disabling my firewall on the PC and/or on the router, uninstalled the Antivirus / Firewall software (Norton) on the PC, I have added the Ports required for the Apple TV to my router and firewall software, I have read many, many forum posts about what has worked for other people and I tried them all in various combinations.
I decided having tried the above that the problem must be the Windows PC, so I swapped it for a few days with a laptop, connected wirelessly to the router. I had an iTunes library on the laptop so I shared it with the Apple TV and stopped iTunes running on my relative's PC. For a few days it actually worked, the Apple TV would play one movie/music track and I could select another and play it after a few minutes, a partial solution had been found except the laptop was needed elsewhere and I wanted the Windows PC to be the source for the iTunes library. I briefly considered suggesting they should buy a modern PC or Mac as their Windows PC was around 9 years old, may be that was the problem? This would have cost around £400+ and was out of the question. Fortunately I had a spare PC and I decided to swap it with the Windows PC, it was only a couple of years old and as such it must be 'better' I thought. Swapping one PC with another and transferring e-mails and documents etc. took quite a few hours but it was done. I uninstalled iTunes, reinstalled it and set up the home sharing again. This second Windows PC was running XP (SP3) and Norton 360 Firewall/Anitvirus software. I checked that after installing iTunes the Program rules in Norton were allowing the TCP and UDP communications expected by the Apple TV, I noted these were not specific ports but all TCP and all UDP communications were allowed. All of this met the recommendations that other posts had suggested. I tried it with the Apple TV but no, exactly the same problem, the iTunes library could not be found after a few minutes.
I found that if I restarted the Apple TV it would connect and play a file (movie/music etc) but if I played an iTunes trailer or just waited a minute or so then it would lose the connection. Another symptom would be when I landed on the 'Compters' icon it would tell me to 'enable home sharing on the PC with this Apple ID' , which I had already done.
If I tried playing via the Apple TV while selecting tracks from within iTunes on the PC, then sometimes the AirPlay icon was present or not present, sometimes worked and would then always not work until I restarted at least iTunes and the Apple TV, if not also the router or PC, whatever I tried it would not result in a connection between the Apple TV and the PC that would survive more than a few moniutes at a time.
Having swapped the Windows PC hosting the iTunes library with another I swapped the Apple TV again with one from my house, again same behaviour. So this suggested the problem was the BTHomeHub router as that was the only bit of hardware not exchanged. I compared its settings with the same unit at my house, I tried forwarding ports, I tried chaging the security from the default 'WPA & WPA2' to WPA or WPA2, still no solution. I tried reducing the default WiFi connection protocol from 802b/g/n to 802/b/g. I tried variations of all the other possible settings that could be changed but in the end set them to match the ones at my house. Still no solution. I considered buying an Airport Extreme or similar to link that via an ethernet cable to the router and enable it to be the WiFi access point for the Apple TV. This would have cost around £80 similar to the cost of the Apple TV itself, so was also dismissed as an idea.
I decided to restore the router to factory settings, this was done and I set up the WiFi connection again to the Apple TV, still no solution, same behaviour on the Apple TV. I decided it must be a problem with the WiFi so I tried a direct ethernet cable trailed through the house from the router to the Apple TV to eliminate the WiFi involvement, that would have to be the answer, wouldn't it? No, same problem.
I discovered some useful diagnostics along the way that are somewhat techie but worth persevering with as they could be useful for diagnosing what the problem could be. Find out on your router what the IP Address is for your computer that is hosting your iTunes library and the IP Address for your Apple TV. The IP address is essential for either device to connect with each other or the internet. The Apple TV IP address can be seen via Settings/General/Network, it has the form like '192.168.1.69' and for the PC it was '192.168.1.80', the values don't have a particular significance but the last digits after the 3rd dot will be different for each device.
On the PC (or Mac), open a Command (PC) or Terminal(Mac) prompt and try to 'ping' the Apple TV to see if you get a response
e.g.
c:\ping 192.168.1.69
or
c:\ping apple-tv
You should get a response indicating the number of milliseconds it takes for the 'ping' to be returned to the PC from the Apple TV , this will show that the PC can connect to the Apple TV, if it does not get a response then you should check that the PC and Apple TV are connected to the same network (either wired or wifi). You must be able to get a successful ping for the connection between the PC and the Apple TV to work at all.
Another diagnostic is to check the network status on the PC (or Mac)
e.g.
c:\netstat -an
This will show all the current TCP/UDP connections and also the local and remote IP addresses and ports. Look for the IP address of the Apple TV in the third column, there will be many rows returned so just concentrate on the rows with the IP addressses of the PC and the Apple TV
e.g. look for rows like the following:
TCP 192.169.1.80:3689 192.168.1.69:49123 ESTABLISHED
UDP 192.168.1.80:5353 *.*
UDP *.123 *.*
TCP Port 3689 is used by the Apple TV to communicate with iTunes for playing content. This connection is essential, there may be more than one 'established' connection to the remote Apple TV from the local PC.
UDP Port 5353 is used by the Apple Bonjour service to send multicast communications between iTunes and any iOS devices on the same network, such as the Apple TV, again it is essential.
Port 123 is used by Apple products to obtain the date and time, the UDP row above shows that any local IP Address can communicate with any remote IP address on the router's network and provide it with date and time information.
If your firewall software on the PC is blocking any of these ports then the 'netstat' command is useful to see if you need to unblock any. In my experience, this port unblocking was not necessary as when I installed iTunes, the Norton software automatically set up appropriate rules for the iTunes program, and opened the required TCP and UDP communications as iTunes needed.
Likewise, on the router itself, I have the UPnP setting enabled and this allows software like iTunes and Bonjour to traverse the router's firewall without it being necesssary to explicitly set the ports to be forwarded.
If I started the Apple TV, and ran the 'netstat -an' command over the next few minutes I could see the number of rows for the Apple TV diminish, and this was a symptom of the dropping connection problem.
Ultimately having replaced the Apple TV with another 'working' one , swapped the PC, restored the router to factory defaults, disabled the Windows or Norton firewall, tried ethernet and WiFi connection between the router and Apple TV it struck me that the only component I had not considered was the insignificant ethernet cable linking the PC to the router. This has been present since the router was installed for the original PC around 4 years ago. But surely this was how the original PC and the swapped in PC were getting to the internet quite normally and successfully? Also this was how the Apple TV was accessing the PC via WiFi then via the router through this ethernet cable, there was no way it could be the cable, cables don't allow a connection for a short time and then cause a timeout can they?. Thus, confused, and with all other avenues explored, I removed the cable between the PC and the router and enabled a WiFi connection from the PC to the router. After restarting the PC, Router and Apple TV, just to be sure, I tried the Apple TV again.
I could play some music on the Apple TV from the iTunes library, I could play it for a minute or so and then go to movies and play a movie from the iTunes library. I tried to play an iTunes trailer, some YouTube videos, these worked as usual. I then went back to the library and yes, I could play another music track or another movie. I forced the Apple TV to 'sleep' via Settings/General/Sleep Now and tried again, I woke it up and could play any music or movie from the library. Elated, I went out for meal with the family, nervously hoping throughout the meal that the solution had been found. After a couple of hours we returned, woke up the Apple TV and yes, oh yes!, it would connect with the library and play a succession of music or videos without seeing any dropped connections. Several hours later I could wake up the Apple TV again and select any content from the iTunes library on the PC and play it, finally the unit is behaving as I would expect.
This solution may not apply for all, but it worth following all of the components in the path between the Apple TV, router, computer (either PC or Mac) and the iTunes library and checking that each is able to commmunicate successfully and over a period of time reliably so that the Apple TV can perform as flawlessly as it is capable of.
Don't, as I did expect the solution to involve a complicated series of special settings of ports or communications protocol changes. Do perform a clean install of iTunes and keep it updated, do keep Firewall settings simple and let the settings be default settings, do rely on UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) on the router. Let the router select which channel it wants to use, it will select the channel with least interference...and check out that insignificant ethernet cable if you have one. It might work fine for general communications from the computer to router to the internet but it can be a source of connections dropping on the Apple TV!
My relative is now a happy Apple TV user too.

Useful to watch what is happening to the TCP/UDP connections when the Apple TV is connected to iTunes and when it is actually playing some media from iTunes and when it stops playing.
To see this, use the Network Statistics command 'netstat' from a Command prompt (Windows PC) / Terminal Window (Mac):
e.g. for Windows:
c:\netstat -an 5
This repeats the netstat command every 5 seconds, use Ctrl-C to quit the command. (Use 'netstat -h' for help with this command)
While iTunes is running there will be a number of TCP records displayed for the computer's IP address using port 3689, showing at least 3 ports in use for the Apple TV's IP address.
i.e.
TCP host_ip:3689 apple_tv_ip:49187 ESTABLISHED
TCP host_ip:3689 apple_tv_ip:49196 ESTABLISHED
TCP host_ip:3689 apple_tv_ip:49255 ESTABLISHED
When it is playing content there are more connections established, some of these rows will gradually disappear when the media file stops playing. These addional TCP records show iTunes using different ports from 3689, but only while media files are being played.
When a video file is played, (on this Windows PC at least) the iTunes host is using ports 4463 and 4464, with the Apple TV using port 7000. When playing a music track or podcast, the iTunes host is using port 4472 or 4489 and the Apple TV is using port 5000.
When the media is playing, the fourth column returned by the 'netstat -an 5' command : 'State' shows as 'ESTABLISHED' and shortly after the media file is stopped playing it shows as 'TIME_WAIT' until the record disappears after a minute or so.

I cannot access my computer library on apple tv .. Although I can stream music .... No pics at all ... It used to My computer has iTunes open I am pretty sure it is on same network as apple tv My computer will stream music on iTunes from my computer but

My computer has iTunes open
I am pretty sure it is on same network as apple tv
My computer will stream music on iTunes from my computer but not
show owners library and not any pictures
In apple tv settings - AirPlay is on and so is home sharing
In my computer iTunes - home sharing is on

I get this problem every day or two when trying to connect my ATV 2 running 5.1.1 to iTunes 11.0.1 on an iMac running OS X 10.8.2 (though it started happening with earlier releases of both ATV software and iTunes. I think it started happening regularly following the installation of the ATV 5.0 software, with I think iTunes 10.6 or thereabouts.) They're connected over WiFi via an Airport Extreme basestation.
The TV simply shows a black screen with:
'Could not connect to "<iTunes library name>"'. 'Make sure the computer is on the same network as your Apple TV , the iTunes version is up to date, and iTunes is running.'
I've found the way to fix this problem when it happens is to restart the Apple TV (Settings>General>Restart). This always seems to correct it and allows me to connect to iTunes successfully once again, but the problem always returns sooner or later and I've not been able to determine what triggers it exactly. It seems to happen more often if the iMac running iTunes has been put to sleep with iTunes running and subsequently woken, but it also happens sometimes when I wake ATV and try to connect it to a freshly booted iMac and newly launched iTunes.
I keep hoping a new release of ATV software will fix it but neither 5.1 nor 5.1.1 made any noticable difference and neither have newer releases of iTunes.

I'm using itunes from my mac mini and all my purchased content shows up in my itunes library. However, I synched it with my apple tv and many of the shows, music, and movies don't show up on the computer library on the apple tv. Any ideas?

I have a mac mini that I use my itunes on. Purchased content shows up fine on the itunes library, movies, tv shows and music. I have linked my apple tv to it. When I check my computer library via the apple tv many of the movies, music and tv shows are missing. How can I fix this?

Welcome to the Apple Community.
Which Apple TV do you have.

My computer shows up on my apple tv but the library won't connect

my computer shows up as connected on my apple tv but my library wont load. An error message comes up saying "could not connect to library. make sure your computer has itunes open, and that its on the same network as Apple TV."
my computer and apple tv are both connected to the same network and itunes is open on my comp. what can i do to fix this?

I have the same issue with the new Apple TV (3rd gen).
I have two libraries on one machine which is connected to the LAN via Ethernet. Homeshare has been setup with the same Apple ID for both libraries and both accounts are logged in (using fast user switching), with iTunes running.
My iPad and iPhone can see both libraires and stream content from them over wifi. The ATV can see both libraries, but will only load content from one of them, and not always the one that belongs to the currently logged in user. The other, just gives the "could not connect to library. make sure your computer has itunes open, and that its on the same network as Apple TV." error, as above.
The network connection is fine, the ATV is up-to-date, as is iTunes and OSx. HomeShare is enabled on all devices and using the same Apple ID. I've tried rebooting, restoring the ATV, rebooting iTunes on both accounts and the Mac itself. Nothing works.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Apple TV switching primary library to new mac from PC

i just bought a new Mac and have an extensive itunes library. i have migrated the files over to the mac, and now want to make it the primary computer on the wireless network for my apple tv (the pc is running out os space and is old). how do i switch it over?
thanks

I'm having the same issue- is there any way to do this without losing everything on the Apple TV? The library has already been ported to the new computer, so it's identical to what's already on both the old computer and the Apple TV.
Thanks.
-Ryan

GB won't open- This is what I get... Path does not exist: /Library/Audio/Apple Loops Index st: /Library/Audio/Apple Loops Index w/out this directory you cannot use the Loop Browser

Path does not exist: /Library/Audio/Apple Loops Index st: /Library/Audio/Apple Loops Index w/out this directory you cannot use the Loop Browser. Then I get this message...
Instrument Library Invalid
GarageBand Ecpects a valid instrument foledr in /Libraty/Application Support/GarageBand
Please choose a valid instrument Library folder or quit and re-install GB
Any solutions?

Is this a new installation of GarageBand or has it worked before on the same computer?
Or have you transferrred your GarageBand from a different computer?
The error message is saying, that your GarageBand installation is incomplete. There are essential foldrs missing in your system library.
Check, if indeed both folders are missing or if only the permissions are set incorrectly.
Your system library (the folder "System" directly on your system drive) should have the following folders inside the folder "Audio", and they need to be readable by the system and by administrators.
And in the folder /Library/Application Support there should be the Instrument Library.
If these folders do not exist (or no longer exist), restore them from your backup- If your GarageBand version is a new installation, the application may not hve been downloaded or installed completely, then reinstall GarageBand.
What is your GarageBAnd version, and how did you install it originally?
Regards
Léonie

How can I delete all songs associated with an Apple ID from my library?

I added songs from my friend's library to my library; however, many of his songs were purchased on the iTunes Store. I cannot play these tracks as my computer is not authorized to play them. How can I easily remove all songs associated/purchased with with an Apple ID from my library?
Thanks for the help!

Go to appleid.apple.com, click Manage your Apple ID and sign in, select the Name, ID and Email Addresses section, then click Edit next to her name to the right and change as necessary.
If she is using iCloud email and needs to change her sender name on an iOS device, go to Settings>Mail,Contacts,Calendars...tap iCloud under Accounts, tap your iCloud account at the top of the next screen, tap Mail at the bottom of the next screen, then enter the name you want to use in the Name field at the top. Also go to icloud.com, sign into her account, open Mail, click the gear shaped icon on the bottom left and choose Preferences, go to the Accounts tab and enter the name she wants to use in the Full Name field and click Done.

HT1926 I just tried to update to latest iTunes version and received an error 7 (Windows error 1114) that "iTunes was not installed correctly. Please reinstall iTunes." How so I go about this without losing my library contents (which are not backed up on c

I just tried to install latest iTunes version and install failed. A pop-up stated "iTunes was not installed correctly. Please reinstall iTunes. ERROR 7 (Windows error 1114)." I have a decent-sized iTunes library that is not backed-up to the cloud. How can I either get back to the previous iTunes version that was functioning OR install a new version without losing the Library?

Go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs (Win XP) or Programs and Features (later)
Remove all of these items in the following order:
iTunes
Apple Software Update
Apple Mobile Device Support (if this won't uninstall move on to the next item)
Bonjour
Apple Application Support
Reboot, download iTunes, then reinstall, either using an account with administrative rights, or right-clicking the downloaded installer and selecting Run as Administrator.
The uninstall and reinstall process will preserve your iTunes library and settings, but ideally you would back up the library and your other important personal documents and data on a regular basis. See this user tip for a suggested technique.
Please note:
Some users may need to follow all the steps in whichever of the following support documents applies to their system. These include some additional manual file and folder deletions not mentioned above.
HT1925: Removing and Reinstalling iTunes for Windows XP
HT1923: Removing and reinstalling iTunes for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
tt2

Can I uninstall itunes and re-install without losing my library?

My eject button has disappeared. So I want to unistall Itunes and then re-install it.How do I do this without losing my library?

Your library is preserved with the following repair process, but you ought to be routinely backing up anyway.
Go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs (Win XP) or Programs and Features (Later)
Remove all of these items in the following order:
iTunes
Apple Software Update
Apple Mobile Device Support
Bonjour
Apple Application Support
Reboot, download iTunes, then reinstall, either using an account with administrative rights, or right-clicking the downloaded installer and selecting Run as Administrator.
See also HT1925: Removing and Reinstalling iTunes for Windows XP or HT1923: Removing and reinstalling iTunes for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
Should you get the error iTunes.exe - Entry Point Not Found after the above reinstall then copy QTMovieWin.dll from:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Apple\Apple Application Support
and paste into:
C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes
The above paths would be for a 64-bit machine. Hopefully the same fix with the " (x86)" omitted would work on 32-bit systems with the same error.
tt2

What does this mean? /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist /System/Library/Private/Frameworks/PackageKit.framework/Resources/shove

I got this as a Webroot alert:
/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist
/System/Library/Private/Frameworks/PackageKit.framework/Resources/shove
Is this OK, or is it something I need to fix?
Thanks,
Jerry

If there is an associated event in the Activity Monitor or in Console logs showing
something is actually running in the background, then I'd not be too concerned.
However, the Remote Desktop should not show any activity if you have it shut off.
After all, it is a Client version and unless you are networked remotely to someone
who would be controlling your Mac from elsewhere, there's no need to use it.
The application itself, is not the client version you have in your Mac for free:
http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/ the main deal administers client versions.
http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/features.html
May be helpful to read up on various Mac OS X system sections to see when or
if you have odd experiences with them, where to go and look. I've not messed w/
Remote Desktop for several years, perhaps not since Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.x.
Questions and sometimes answers about Apple Remote Desktop, appear here:
Servers and Enterprise Software - Apple Support Community discussions.
Maybe you should contact the Apple person who looked into your Mac and ask
what was involved and why these messages keep appearing. The person should
be able to tell what they did and why they did it. And what to go into, and check...
They may have left something or another on or enabled, that needs to be addressed.
To see Webroot items does seem rather odd, since I've never had any messages
from that function; unless someone had a need to go in there. (But why?)
This thread was moved to Servers/Enterprise ASC, from an OS X ASC area, btw.
Also, after an update or other change in the system, may be reflected in Logs or in
the report generated by Disk Utility's repair disk permissions. These do not mean a
bad thing has taken place, necessarily. I'm unfamiliar with the recent one you noted.
In any event...
Good luck & happy computing!

Ive just updated my version of itunes and now it wont load the itunes store? Anyone know why? Worried about losing my library if i start trying to download again.

Ive just updated my version of itunes and now it wont load the itunes store? Anyone know why? Worried about losing my library if i start trying to download again.

Hey NJ85,
Thanks for the question. If you are having issues connecting to the iTunes Store, this article may help:
Can't connect to the iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1368
Thanks,
Matt M.

How do I download music from my computer library to my iphone 3

How do I download music from my computer library to my iphone 3

Selected under the Music tab for your iPhone sync preferences with iTunes.
Apple also includes a Safari bookmark with Safari on the iPhone for access to the iPhone user guide.

Why is the new music i download not transferring onto my computer library automatically?

I plug my iphone in to my computer and all of the new music that i download isnt in my computer library, even when i sign into my account. (same account that is on the phone) When i unplug the phone i cannot get it to pull all of the new music i have downloaded into my library, HELP please!!

Hi SRistau,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. If your new purchases aren't appearing in your iTunes library, I'd try either of the following:
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1848
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519
Cheers,
- Ari

HT4623 I cannot login to my Apple ID on my phone after the update, although I can login to Apple on my computer. What do I do to get my phone back to operational? Please help!

I have updated my I phone 4S and need to login to in to be able to use my phone. I am able to access and log in to Apple on the computer with my password and username although not able to do this on my phone. It keeps saying invalid user name or password. Please help me so I can use my phone. Thanks in advance for any and all assistance.

Based on the numerous posts regarding iTunes and the App Store, there appears to be an issue at Apple's end. Although Apple has not provided any indication on the cloud status page.
Do not change your settings.

Apple TV Losing Computer Library

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