Apple TV3 iTunes ethernet issues

I have been unsuccessfully trying to trouble shoot an intermittent connection/communication issue accessing iTunes with my Apple TV3 via ethernet. The issue is this: I can always connect to my iTunes music library (stored on an iMac) via wifi but connecting via ethernet is hit and miss (usually miss). Sometimes the Remote app on my iPad indicates I need to turn on Home Sharing (it is already on); other times I can connect to my iTunes music library but when I try to play a song nothing happens. Sometimes the song starts playing and then stops about 45 seconds later. Occasionally it works flawlessly.
The ethernet connection/communication problem has persisted for over a year through several ATV and iTunes software updates. Why not just be happy with a wifi connection? I am assuming that I get a fuller data stream from my lossless files via ethernet than with a wifi connection. (This could be a an erroneous assumption.)
My Ethernet network runs from my Centurylink supplied Actiontec PK5000 modem/router through a pair of Netgear Powerline adapters to my ATV in an adjoining room.
Before I take the trouble to run a hard wire ethernet cable through my crawl space direct to the ATV (to trouble shoot the Netgear Powerline part of the system) I am planning to bypass the router side of my Actiontec PK5000 and use an Airport Extreme for both the Ethernet and wireless network.
Question:
Is the idea to change over to the AE a reasonable troubleshooting step – assuming the problem might be the Actiontec router? I’m hoping the AE will have better connection technology that will play nicer with my ATV. I plan to switch the Actiontec over to transparent bridging mode and use the AE as both my wifi and ethernet router.
Changing over to the AE seems fairly straightforward in concept. My wife relies on the network for her job so I don’t want to switch to the AE if it takes me hours of connection troubleshooting while she is tapping her fingers in the background. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Jermobu,
If you are having issues with AirPlay between your MacBook Pro and your Apple TV, you may find the information and troubleshooting steps outlined in the following article helpful, in particular the portion about Ethernet:
iTunes: Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring - Apple Support
Regards,
- Brenden

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Apple TV and Ethernet issues.

I want to know if it is possible to connect both the apple TV and my macbook pro to ethernet and still be able to use airplay. I can see the apple tv but for some reason I cannot get it to connect. When I unplug the ethernet from either of the devices I can connect. Please help if you can.

Hi Jermobu,
If you are having issues with AirPlay between your MacBook Pro and your Apple TV, you may find the information and troubleshooting steps outlined in the following article helpful, in particular the portion about Ethernet:
iTunes: Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring - Apple Support
Regards,
- Brenden

How do I fix Apple TV/iTunes Sync issue (port 3689)

I am having a port 3689 issue, I looked through all the other topics on it here, seems common, I only just bought my Apple TV unit and thinking about returning it, the guy from Apple support tried his best but still no fix.
iTunes says port 3689 is blocked, I have tried the following to rectify
1) Opened up port 3689 and 5353 on the modem
2) connected the Apple TV box directly to the Netcomm modem avoiding the wireless network
3) Called apple for assistance
4) disabled my firewall completely
5) re-instated the firewall and opened up ports in the firewall itself as a rule
After all this still says it's blocked.
Any other ideas?
Please help
Message was edited by: simosyd
Message was edited by: simosyd

I had the same problem. I tuned off the firewall, rebooted computer, unplugged the router and turned off AppleTV, then I turned them all back on.
Then it works fine.
If I do all that but leave the firewall on, AppleTV syncs correctly the first time iTunes is loaded. After that I get the error and need to either turn off iTunes or simply reboot the computer and the sync goes back to working (again, first time only).
While it it definitely seems like a firewall issue, it seems to be a problem within iTunes/AppleTV and I doubt there is a way it can be fixed permanently by managing the ports (i.e. wait for the next update for the real fix).

Apple TV with Ethernet issues

Hello all,
I have had trouble with ATV1 for some time and just when you think you have it licked it stuffs up again.
I have it connected with a Ethernet cable and it suddenly has decided it will not find the router or connect to the internet.
I have done all the reboots and restarts i can possibly think of and wonder if any of you have found a solution to this issue or have experienced the same thing.
One day it works the next it doesn't and there is no obvious reason. When it works its awesome !

I have seen issues on ATV1 and ATV3 where DHCP leases within the network expire as machines come and go. The ATVs should try and renew their DHCP leases or request a new IP, if the renew fails whenever they are "woken" up.
In some cases, I have had to watch packets on the wire to ensure whether such requests do happen or not.

Itunes update issue

I updated iTunes but receive the following message: AVCFPlayerItemDurationChangedNotofication... Now iTunes will not run. I even tried the repair option on the iTunes download website. Any suggestions?

Does this happen if you start iTunes in safe mode, hold Shift and Control while launching it?
Take a look at this Apple document -> iTunes: Troubleshooting issues with third-party iTunes plug-ins
You may have to remove a plug-in from C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunes Plug-ins\

Can i use the apple tv3 to connect a blu-ray player to the internet through the ethernet port?

I Have a blu-ray player which can access teh internet but only through a wired connection. Unfortunately, do to some renovating a can't really pass a wire from my router to the player. I was thinking of getting the express base station and hooking up an ethernet cable and getting it to connect that wy. However, for just an extra 10$ i can get teh apple tv and started to wonder if it would do the same.
Anybody know if i connect an an ethernet cable between my blu-ray player and apple tv3 if it will be able to connect to the internet?
Thanks for you help!

Your blu-ray play can't play to your AppleTV, neither using a wired connection or wi-fi.
AppleTV only support compressed format. Therefore, your AppleTV require your content to be within your iTunes library and on the supported format; http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html
There are however wireless devices on which you can plug an HDMI cable. I don't know the price of such wireless devices but you'll find them on the net.

ITunes 9, Apple TV, and AirTunes issues

It seems that iTunes 9 on my iMac has two issues, possibly related, both of which are very irksome. Both issues appear after the computer wakes from sleep, leading me to think they are symptoms of the same problem.
Issue #1 is that the AppleTV keeps vanishing from the list of devices. iTunes knows about the AppleTV, the AppleTV is on the network and can stream from iTunes, but the device is missing and hence sync won't work. I've checked the firewall log and the AppleTV is being accepted for incoming connections, so it's not a firewall issue. I've reset the AppleTV, reset the connection between iTunes and the AppleTV, resynced all my content and the problem persists.
I've found two ways to fix this issue: restart iTunes, or go to Preferences : Apple TV, uncheck "Look for Apple TV", close Preferences, open Preferences and recheck the same selection. After a 2-3 second delay, the AppleTV appears in iTunes.
Issue #2 is that the remote speakers connected via an Airport Express disappear. This seems to happen at the same time as the AppleTV disappearing, as the drop-down box for selecting the remote speakers vanishes. Normally it lists the computer, the Apple TV, and the stereo but then the box goes away.
Similarly for issue #1, I can get the drop-down back by going to Preferences : Devices and unselect "look for remote speakers", close and reopen Preferences and reselect the same checkbox. Interestingly, doing this does NOT bring the AppleTV back as a device, but the Apple TV is listed along with the remote speakers.
I think the two issues are related, as they both involve the network. My computer is linked via Ethernet to the DSL router with 802.11 then going to the two devices. It seems to me that iTunes is not reestablishing the connection after waking from sleep. But it's not consistent; I can put the computer to sleep and wake it up, and the connection is there. Other times the connection is gone.
The only thing I can't rule out is a problem wirelessly connecting to the devices, but the AppleTV has always reported 5 bars of signal, and the fact that it still streams from iTunes, yet iTunes doesn't see it, makes me think the problem is in iTunes.
Hopefully this will be helpful to someone else with these problems.

After suffering with the Apple TV for four months, and scouring the internet for fixes, tricks, and workarounds before posting, I have to wonder how many thousands of people there are silently slamming their heads on the sofa while they wait for apple TV to unfreeze, catch up to their attempted remote prompts, or simply just restart as if ATV even gave up on itself. (issues are in Bold)
I have to opt with the streaming feature to bring my movies, music, and photo's to a big screen and home theater sound system due to a 2TB (mostly full) Western digital external HD plugged into the 802.11n airport extreme.
A possible reason for *the 2 second stoppages in play of movies and music are that the airport has to link the music/movies to my computer(itunes), which must travel back to the airport to go to the apple TV.*
I'm also using the iphone for remote use, being that the infamous IR issues with the standard remote are so notorious, I wouldn't be surprised if Best Buy started selling the ATV with white paper already taped to the sensor.
*While using the main menu, 1 out of 4 times in a five minute period of navigating the ATV, the product is unresponsive to commands from either type of remote, and I am left to:*
*1. wait until it unfreezes after about 4 min (60% of the time) when all prompts are suddenly recognized by ATV, all at the same time, to which often it goes back into another multi minute freeze before use is temporarily made available again.*
*2. hold the menu button down on the IR remote so ATV restarts after i've waited over 5 min to see if the freeze will work itself out(15% of the time) or*
*3. try to wait out the issue until the ATV restarts itself with no prompted action (10% of the time) to which I am asked to pick a language again and given the option to restart, run diagnostics or restore factory settings.*
*---The last 15% of the time ATV stays frozen and unresponsive to any remote for, in my estimation ever (I literally waited almost two months, pressing buttons many times a day to try an wake the ATV got nothing but a screensaver before i gave in), until you're forced to pull the plug because the holding-menu-button restart option isn't even working **
I've tried restoring factory settings, changing IR remote batteries, unpairing and repairing, unsyncing and resyncing both itunes libraries, remotes and airport extreme connections, jogging the itunes preferences, putting paper in front of the IR sensor, restarting both itunes and unplugging the ATV, and I even went back to exchange the apple tv for another apple tv to see if it was just an issue with the hardware...nothing has eased these ailments.
The airport and all wireless devices in-play are no further than 15 feet from each other, including the airport, which is just on the other side of a very thin wall w/i 10 feet of the ATV.
*If, in the menu freeze, (which, again happens about 25% of the time i attempt to navigate the ATV menu) you give up on the iphone remote, u see the ATV is receiving the signals from the IR remote, but nothing moves most of the time (mentioned above) and the best you might get after waiting and trouble shooting long enough is the screensaver stopping for a split second, when u press a button on the IR remote, before continuing to ken burns until you want to use the ATV to play frisbee with interstate 20 traffic.*
I'm not sure if Apple over-engineered this device to the point where it's tripping over itself to perform the most basic functions, but I bought this device so I could watch my movies and listen to my music wirelessly, and at this point, the DVI wire and headphone jack splitter are a much more reliable (yet burdensome) option than the ATV.
If I had to guess, it seems most problems stem from users who stream from an external hard drive, whether it be plugged into the host computer, or broadcast wirelessly (this is not taking into consideration the IR remote issue). This might be an unpopular suggestion to Apple, and i'm sure you have some reasoning for not making this an option, either for monetary or twisted legal obligations but the internet complaint factory might be a little less whiny if you just simply make an option to have the ATV be a screen emulator, with AirTunes, and cut all the other youtube, direct internet to ATV garbage that 65% of the people using this product didn't buy it for.
I have been nothing but awestricken with Apple products since I was a child, and thought there were no ends to the company's ability to make products that work with each other easily, seamlessly, and without the need of a computer engineer to set it up for you. Unfortunately though, it seems, for the time being, we might have met the limits.

Canon HF G30 5.1 audio through iTunes and Apple TV3?

Hi All,
In brief - I've converted the AVCHD movie files to MOV files and MP4 files with ClipWrap and Handbrake, fully expecting resultant files to play surround sound through my system via Apple TV3 and iTunes. I have movies on my iTunes library playing surround sound audio from other movies, so I know it's not an ability issue with my equipment. I've tried various conversions in Handbrake and even by playing just the converted .MOV files imported into iTunes directly - with no success - all I get is stereo output from "6 channel" files.
What major point am I missing please?
Many thanks for your help and patience.
Cheers
Chris

Hi,
I experienced some DTS files in iTunes, with my AirPort Express some months ago, it was working fine on my Marantz receiver. A few days ago I wanted to listen to them again, only white noise... I wanted to rip by myself a DTS-CD, therefore I found this out. Apparently since AirTunes has been turned to AirPlay, it's not working anymore (?) / the same way.

Video Playback Issues With Apple TV3 Running OS8

I have two Apple TV3s (Both Pre 2013)
One updated today to the latest OS8, the other still running the previous OS7.1.2
Now when trying to play virtually any of my own MP4 videos the OS8 firmware version Apple TV3 refuses to play the file.
Apple TV simply displays "An error occurred loading this content" (retrying simply displays the same error again)
If I then use the second Apple TV3 (running the older firmware OS7.1.2) and try to play exactly the same files from the same iTunes library the file will play back correctly.
So far the OS8 Apple TV3 is unable to play over 95% of the video files it could previously play prior to the firmware update.
The odd file will play but these files are of differing resolutions so don't appear to share anything in common. It is always the same files that will or wont play.
All video files are Profile 4.0 or lower and contain the required audio tracks.
I am running iTunes 11.4.0.18 (Windows 8.1)
Prior to the update every video file played correctly (on both Apple TVs) and the second Apple TV3 (using the earlier OS7.1.2 firmware) still plays the exact same files correctly.
Music files are unaffected and playback correctly on both Apple TV3s.
The latest firmware update appears to have corrupted the video playback of the Apple TV3 in some way.
I have even tried a complete USB restore of the OS8 Apple TV3 but this has made no difference.
Has anyone else experienced MP4 playback issues since updating their Apple TV3 to OS8?
Thank you in advance.

After further tests it would appear that Apple TV 7.0 (OS8) firmware is unable to play any video file with NO CHAPTER markers.
If I use MetaX to simply tag an unplayable MP4 file with a single chapter, that file will now play correctly using an Apple TV3 running Apple TV 7.0 (OS8). If the single chapter is then deleted the same file reverts to being unplayable.
In previous versions of Apple TV firmware any video file with NO CHAPTER markers could be played correctly and the Apple TV would automatically generate chapter markers at equally distributed time gaps.
For some reason Apple TV 7.0 (OS8) firmware appears to have removed this auto chapter marker feature so if a file has no chapter markers the Apple TV will now consider the file as invalid.
With MetaX it is possible to manually generate additional chapter markers so you can still skip through the file rather than only scan.
iFlick for Mac should I suspect be able to do the same thing.

Is there a cure against apple tv3 being unable to open videos or music from itunes library?

HI!
I recently bought an apple tv and was trying to playback video and audio files on it.
activation of homesharing has been rather smooth (although i did have to open and close itunes several time). apple tv3 is able to download the library and lets me surf it.
my problems start when i attempt to open more than one video/song (one after another of course). It shows this circle which indicates download but does nothing. i'm able to exit from this screen but any attempt to open any file afterwards brings me the same result - running circle/star with no playback.
i read support info on the apple page and have followed more or less all recommendations, starting with allowing tcp/udp ports, making sure taht itunes is not on firewall, disabling power management on my wireless adapter, etc.
the most exciting thing is that i have the same problem if i run remote app on my iphone and/or ipad - it stops seeing itunes after a while. at the same time if i pair my ipad/iphone with itunes manually (using 4 digit password) it works smoothly.
tech specs: latest itunes running on win 7, latest software running ipad/iphone/appletv. connection over wifi.
i assume there must be a bug in the way itunes communicates with devices in the apple ID related homesharing. otherwise i can't explain why remote app works smoothly with itunes library in password pairing mode.
Has anyone faced anything similar and found a cure against the problem?
I hear different opinions re firewall, antivirus software (i use kaspersky). i'm not technical guy but assume if those pieces of the system allow to play one or two songs and then freeze, i don't think that the problem is in those pc.
WOudl be grateful for constructive feedback, hopefully with an easy solution:)
P.S> airplay from ipad, itunes, iphone works perfectly and without glitches.

Is this happening when playing from iCloud or locally from iTunes on your computer? If it is from your computer is the computer going to sleep? There is some bug in ATV that causes it to have problems being able to wake a computer that has gone into sleep mode. Some times it works fine and then sometimes for like a week ATV will not be able to WAKE the iMac. This can also be a problem if you are using an external hard drive and the hard drive is going into sleep mode. Also is iTunes running. If iTunes is not on then ATV can not connect to get content.

Like many others, I got the new iPad 3 and couldn't sync all of my photos. The best i got was 1,000 out of 15,000 to work. Today Apple released iTunes 10.6.1.7 and said the syncing issue was resolved. I erased my ipod cache and hit sync. Still locked.

Like many others, I got my new IPad 3 and could not sync all of my photos. The highest I got was 1,000 out of 15,000. Today Apple released iTunes 10.6.1.7 that , among other things, said it fixed the sync issue with photos. I excitedly, erased my ipod cache and hit sync. It looked like it was working, but just like before iTunes locked. This time at 2,244 of 15,000. Anybody have an idea of how to fix this?

What's the capacity of your iPad?
iTunes needs up to 3x of the actual size of the files you want to sync during the sync process. And syncing 15.000 photos could cross the size of the available free space on your device.
Don't forget that the pictures are now optimized for the retina display, so the size increases for each of them.
Message was edited by: Ingo2711

My new iPod Classic will not sync with my new Mac Book. My iPhone 5 does, so does 2nd gen. iPod touch. Apple Store cannot figure it out. Tried different Classics on different Macs, same thing. iTunes update issue ?

The iPod Classic I bought a month ago is not synching with my new Mac Book I bought 3 weeks ago. All the software was immediately updated. My iPhone 5 synchs fine, and so does my 2nd generaton iPod Touch. The original computer I synched all of these devices on was my HP latop. I bought my Mac and Classic to the Apple Store for a 'Genius Appt' and they could not figure out what the problem is. The connected my Classic to another computer and the same thing happens. It says device is not recognized. They also took other iPod Classics and connected them to my Mac and other Macs. The same thing was happening. They took notes and said it probably is an iTunes update issue.
I can manually drag songs into my Classic but I lost all playlists because it cannot be backed up as well and they had to restore it. For now I am holding on to it but it's usless to me if I cannot use it the way I liked too. I used it for the gym and bike riding and my last iPod battery died after 6 years. A charge would last 45 miutes. I love the Classic for what I use it for but it's a $275 brick to me now. At least the renewed by receipt so I can get a full refund.
Is anyone else seeing this issue ? The Apple Store employee said he saw a first generation iPad havng the same issue. As of now the Support Dest is unaware of this. As much as I love my new Mac I am disappointed I cannot sync my new Classic to it. Total bummer.
Any help would be apprecated.

By the way, I totally restored everything. It was ok. It starts to 'unrecognize' my iPod Classic when it comes to synching with iPhoto. After this happened all the menus disappeared from my iPod (music, Podcasts, movies synched fine). It seems to be a problem when synching with iPhoto. It was the same thing before.

Possibly why issues with Apple TV & iTunes...

Over the past 24 hours I have had terrible trouble with my Apple TV & iTunes setup - I've never had any issues until now so you can imagine I hit these forums looking for an answer pretty much right away.
I've got an Apple TV 2.0 (160gb) & Mac Mini (Intel Core Duo) running 10.5.2 connected over wifi using an Airport Extreme Base Station.
I've got iTunes 7.6.2 and didn't have a problem when running 7.6.0...
The AEBS is NOT setup for 802.11n as my Mac Mini only supports 802.11g. I have therefore got it setup for g-only (so no issues with wide channels etc on 802.11n).
I started using playlists last week to sync tv shows and movies (my kids always watch the same movies and tv shows over and over so it is the best way to keep these shows on the apple TV and add new content as and when I like).
Everything was working just fine until I added a couple of tv shows yesterday - then the apple TV decided to not play well with iTunes....or rather iTunes kept dropping the Apple TV and would not see it again until restarting iTunes.
Through a tortuous process of elimination I think I may have found the solution to my problem...
Here is what I have done so far :
1 - Reset my Apple TV back to factory defaults (v1.1) - iTunes still drops the connection to the Apple TV when syncing
Note: At this point I should have realised it's an iTunes problem and not the Apple TV, however I ploughed on...
2 - Upgraded Apple TV to 2.0 - still no joy with syncing the tv/movies playlists
3 - Sync'd just photos and music to the Apple TV overnight - no problem
4 - Sync'd one movie (no playlist) this morning - no problem
5 - Sync'd one set of kids TV shows (no playlist) - no problem
I checked the console at steps 1 & 2 above and found iTunes complaining about "can't read data length" when it drops the Apple TV.
So to cut this long story short - the problems I am seeing are likely a corrupt file or a corrupt playlist.
YMMV of course!
Kind regards,
Alex.

Hello SamiD77,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
For more information on this, take a look at:
Apple TV: Syncing time and streaming performance dependent on the speed of wireless network
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24640
Best of luck,
Mario

Apple USB-to-Ethernet, OS 10.5.4 and a MBAir. Having Issues

Ever since updating to 10.5.4 on the MBAir, my adjacent Windows XP system has been looking connectivity. Basicly it is consently telling me that the Ethernet cord has been disconnected.
I mention the Apple USB-to-Ethernet because once I unplug it from the MBAir, the issue goes away on the WinXP box.
Also, the network connection with the MBAir has been 'flaky' using the Apple USB-to-Ethernet; so 'flaky' behavior when going wireless.
Wondering if others have experienced anything remotely similar to this. Wondering if maybe its a faulty Apple USB-to-Ethernet.
Any comments are welcome.

If the drive is new then it isn't prepped for the Mac. You should do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

After installing itunes 11.01.12 air-play doesnt work. the button is gone. already did everything on the checklist, everything is updated, like the receiver and apple tv3, but itunes can probably not see them?

after upgrading to iTunes 11.01.12 the air-play button disapeared. the apple-TV3 and the receiver can communicate, but in my computer there is no button to play on any other speaker/unit. it seems that iTunes can find them. i did everything on the checklist, like check that all units are connected to the same wifi and have the latest firmware.

after upgrading to iTunes 11.01.12 the air-play button disapeared. the apple-TV3 and the receiver can communicate, but in my computer there is no button to play on any other speaker/unit. it seems that iTunes can find them. i did everything on the checklist, like check that all units are connected to the same wifi and have the latest firmware.

Apple TV3 iTunes ethernet issues

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