Home Sharing issues with Windows PCs

I've had an Apple TV2 for over a year. It has been working fine with no issues at all. I use an old laptop running WinXP as my "media server" and it has worked fine up until the last few of months.
Progressively, over the last 2-4 months it has become less reliable when trying to access content on iTunes on it. The laptop itself has otherwise been reliable. It is just the Apple TV talking to it that has been not. Sometimes it works fine, other times as I go through the menus I get 'Loading "library"...' for up to a couple of minutes and it then drops out.
The first time it started becoming unreliable was shortly after a Windows Update. I rolled back the update with System Restore and it went back to working well. I didn't have another problem until I applied the latest set of Windows Updates (a month or so later, hoping the issues had been fixed). Again, it broke, so I rolled back. Last week after it has been running well, Windows crashed and when it recovered AppleTV/iTunes wasn't working again. I tried applying Windows Updates again. No luck. I rolled back to before the crash. No luck. I tried updating to iTunes 10.6. No luck. I uninstalled iTunes (and all the other Apple software) and reinstalled. It was still flakey. Disabling the firewall makes no difference.
I then blew the whole machine away, restored to factory configuration, and installed iTunes again. It is still unreliable.
I have MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6.8 and iTunes 10.6. It works with the Apple TV with no problems at all. All my content plays fine. So I don't believe it is my Apple TV or the network. (All three devices, Apple TV, MBP and Windows laptop are on a wired Ethernet network 100Mbps.)
I just installed iTunes on my Acer Netbook which is running Windows 7 Starter and it has the same unreliability issues as the laptop.
These seems to suggest it is an iTunes/Windows problem – but why am I the only one?
I should add that I can play some content on the Apple TV from either the laptop or the netbook. It might work the first time, even the second time but eventually it just fails. For example, last night we started to watch something on the Apple TV from the library on the WinXP laptop. It played fine for the first 4 minutes and then it just dropped out.
It doesn't matter what content I try. Sometime music works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes iTunes purchased TV shows or movies work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes home made content (FCP X) works, sometimes it doesn't.
Additionally, the laptop and netbook show up in the SHARED area of iTunes on the MBP. I see similar results form there. I can sometimes connect to the laptop or netbook and play content but eventually it fails and the device disappears from SHARED. It eventually comes back, though.
Interestingly, iTunes on the laptop and the netbook don't show any other SHARED devices, even though I have "Share Libraries" ticked in preferences on all three. I also don't see the Apple TV sharing icon on iTunes on the laptop or netbook but I do see it on the MBP (and my iPod and iPad).
I also have a Windows 7 64-bit laptop and I installed 64-bit iTunes 10.6 on it, but I can't even log into the iTunes store form it (unknown error 0x80092013) which appears to be a common problem of late.
I have tried everything I can think of to get it working and am hoping someone might have some ideas on how to debug the issues.

Solved - at least all good so far.
I had to add rules to my firewall software (Symantec Endpoint Protection) for Bonjour (UDP 5353) and DAAP (TCP 3689). Once I did that, the other librares were shown in SHARING and the Apple TV reliably connects.
What I don't understand was why it worked at all without the rules in place.

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I believe I found the fix solving home sharing issues with Windows 7

I was having a problem with my Windows 7 PC while trying to connect iTunes home sharing and my Apple TV. While speaking to Apple support, the tech told me that home sharing uses port 3689. I searched the web and found this link explaining how to open a port on your PC. The issue seems to be with Windows firewall, or the anti virus software controlling the Windows firewall. I use Norton anti virus so when I opened the Windows firewall selection in the control panel, the Norton window opened and the fix was identical to the one shown in this link. http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-7/open-a-port-in-windows-7s-firewall/
Follow the instructions on the page and for step #7, enter 3689. When you get to step #10, I typed in "Apple TV Home Sharing" so I could identify the port later on. I made these changes, rebooted the computer, started iTunes, turned on the Apple TV and everything worked. Try it and this should solve what seems to be a common problem.

Solved - at least all good so far.
I had to add rules to my firewall software (Symantec Endpoint Protection) for Bonjour (UDP 5353) and DAAP (TCP 3689). Once I did that, the other librares were shown in SHARING and the Apple TV reliably connects.
What I don't understand was why it worked at all without the rules in place.

Potential Solution: Home Sharing issues with iTunes 10.6

TL;DR: On a hunch, I changed the power settings of the ATV to never sleep. Since then, I have not had any issues. Granted, it's only been a couple of days, but it seems to have done the trick.
Folks,
Wanted to share my experience with Home Sharing issues after upgrading to iTunes 10.6. These forums a rampant with reports of the issue, so I'll defer to the search field above if you don't know what I am talking about. In short: iTunes 10.6 seems to have busted Home Sharing.
For those who do, here's what I found:
For some reason, is saw a very large number of established sessions from my Apple TV (ATV) into port 3689 on my Mac. This is the port that ATV uses to query iTunes to see what's available via Home Sharing (e.g.: what movies, songs, pictures, etc are available for display on the ATV).
A sniffer cap and some observation of the power indicator on the ATV indicated that while it was sleeping, the ATV was querying iTunes. It would power on for a sec (wake on LAN, maybe?), issue some queries, then sleep.
When this happened, the TCP sessions created were never town down. As such, I would eventually see 200+ established sessions on port 3689. I don't know exactly how many it took to make this happen, but when I saw this, iTunes stopped accepting new connections.
Of course, bouncing iTunes would remedy the issue for a while, but it would return.
On a hunch, I changed the power settings of the ATV to never sleep. Since then, I have not had any issues. Granted, it's only been a couple of days, but it seems to have done the trick.
I would be interested to hear if it works for others.
Happy viewing,
Chris

Thanks for posting this.
I've been searching for an option of how to approach this problem.
I picked up the new AppleTV when it was released, but it has made iTunes fairly useless from a Home Sharing standpoint.
I also observed the massive number of TCP connections being opened against iTunes, but never closed.
As expected, I could manually kill a few of these connections, and then could connect again, even without closing iTunes.
I performed most of my testing with Windows 7, but while troubleshooting I had the same issue with iTunes on an old Mac Mini I had sitting around.
I will try your solution, which makes a lot of sense, but it would be nice if Apple fixed the real problem.
Thanks again.

Home Sharing problem with Windows 7

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has encountered the following issue. I have home sharing setup between 4 computers. One is a Mac with 10.6.2, one is a Windows XP box and two are Windows 7 boxes. Home sharing works perfectly between Mac, Windows 7, and Windows XP. However the two Windows 7 boxes have an issue. When you click on the home icon for a Windows 7 box from the other Windows 7 box it disappears. This only happens between the Windows 7 boxes. All other combinations work. The windows 7 boxes are both 64-bit. Any one have any ideas? I tried re-installing bonjour, turning off sharing and re-enabling, etc. to no avail. Thanks.

Yes. I have read all those posts and tried all the suggestions. The funny thing is that the problem occurs for me only for sharing between the two Windows 7 computers. It works between Windows 7 and Windows XP, Windows 7 and Mac OSX, Windows XP and Mac OSX. It must be Windows 7 specific for me and I have yet to figure it out. Firewall is not a problem because I have tried with all security features turned off and it does exactly the same thing. My work around is to share to either the Windows XP computer or the Mac computer and then share to the Windows 7 box. I am hoping to see a possible fix in the next iTunes when it comes.

Home Sharing issues with iPhone 6 Plus

Hi guys,
I'm having problems with streaming music and video on my iPhone 6 plus from my Macbook Pro (mid 2010 model) using iTunes' Home Sharing . I am able to stream without any issues using my iPhone 4S and my Apple TV, however.
I am using iTunes version 12.0.1.26, iOS 8.1.2, and OSX 10.9.5.
Using my 6 plus, I am able to connect to my iTunes library, both music and video. Album art shows up for music but no cover art for the videos. So, all in all, I am able to see the contents of my library.
However, when I try to play songs, a couple things may happen. First, nothing plays for about 10 seconds; then a second or two of the song plays followed by silence again, appearing as if it's buffering. Second thing that may happen is that a second or two plays immediately followed by silence. If I press next to play the next song, what usually happens is that nothing plays, although the song title does appear.
As seen in this video, I don't have any issues with my WIFI connection or internet speed, as demonstrated using the iPhone 4S and Apple TV.
I have no clue as to why this is happening.
Hopefully someone could shed some light with this issue. Please feel free to comment. I'm open to and appreciate any suggestions while Apple tries to find a solution. Thanks.

UPDATE
So, after working with the guys at Apple, they we were to provide a solution. Now I have no problems using Home Sharing with my iPhone 6 Plus!!!
(I should add that I have the Linksys Advanced Dual-Band N Router (E2500))
The issue was fixed by giving one of the wi-fi channels a different name, thus splitting the channels into 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Then, I connected my iPhone to one channel (2.4 GHz) and my MacBook Pro to the other channel (5GHz). In this configuration, I have had no issues streaming my music and video.
It seems that the problem is some kind of interference between both devices when using the same channel (i.e., when both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channel share the same name).

Lion server file sharing issue with windows API read/write ini file (GetPrivateProfileString)

Hello,
I try to config lion server as file server for a windows application we use at work. All other computers are windows 7 or XP, lion server is the only mac. I choose lion server because it's size, quality and personal love of apple products.
10.7.2 lion server's samba file sharing works almost perfectly with all my windows machines, I can copy, delete, modify any text files or office files without any issue, but the most important windows application for my business doesn't work with samba file sharing. After some digging, I found it is because windows program can't read or write INI file stored on lion share. Windows API GetPrivateProfileString always returns empty if the INI file is store on lion share.
You can download a small application for read/write windows INI file from codeproject.com to test this problem:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/files/ini.aspx
I can open/edit the in file using any text editor without any problem. The only problem is with those windows APIs. ACL is turned on for my lion share and assigned "delete" rights to samba users.
I install samba3 on the same server; it works perfectly with windows API. My windows program also works. Looks like there is something wrong with lion server's sambax.
I'd prefer to use built-in samba even I have samba3 working. Built-in samba is very immature right now, but considered how young it is, I will give apple some time to make it mature.
Does anyone have same issue or knows how to fix it?
Thanks,
Michael.

All the memory is fine. The server rarely if ever goes down when there are only around 10-12 users connected. When there are 20+ users connected and working heavily it goes down often. When I say working heavily, I mean they are transferring huge files to the SAN (100GB+), sometimes 5 at a time per user, and there are a bunch of others who are reading large video files at a minimum of 220MB/sec from the SAN.
Though this worked on Snow Leopard without any issues, Lion just doesn't seem to be able to handle it. The odd thing is, on Snow Leopard there was only a single 1GB ethernet connection to a NAS system, whereas with Lion we have a much more powerful machine with a 6-port 10GB ethernet card and a 4 lane 8GB fiber card to a true SAN. You would think that the newer scenario with Lion would handle far more users with ease.
So far, very disappointing with regards to Lion's file serving performance.

New to Mac - File sharing issue with windows PC?

Good day
I have a win7 pc with all my movies storred on. I shared the folder on the network, and can access the folder from my windows pc and my MacMini.
The problem is that my MacMini does not pic up all the files/folders on the shared folder. I would guess it only picks up about 80% of the files/folders. When I connect to the shared folder from the windows 7 pc it picks up everything.
More info:
Win7 Home (all updates done)
3tb drive (not sure what you call it, but it was formated with NTFS guid table)
Full read Write share enabled to everyone
MacMini Latest hardware and OSX.
Shared folder shows in shared part of finder.
Already did a restart of both PC and Mac
Already did a clean-up on mac.
The mac connects via wi-fi and win pc via ethernet
Please help me on what more I can try

I've seen this a long time ago, seems SMB on the Mac was limited to the number of listings, if you Share an inner folder, does OSX show more files in that folder?
No idea if this works in 10.8, but will mention it...
SMBUp
Did you lose your shared folders with the update of Mac OS X from Snow Leopard to Lion? You can’t see your shared folders from your DVR or Medicaneter boxes hooked up to your TV? The internet tells you to install gigabytes of developer tools and use tons of command-line instructions to regain the ability to see your mac from your other devices in the house after moving to Lion? We might be able to help.
http://eduo.info/apps/smbup

Home Sharing issues with MacBook Pro Early 2010

I'm having problems with home sharing. I can't connect to my MacBook Pro(Lion 10,7,2) library using my iPhone or iPad. My PC(Windows 7) connect without problems, but with my MBP the iPhone 4 or iPad 2 fall in infinity load(both with iOS 5),
I tried format my MBP. After formatted, I was able to use home sharing in MBP, few hours later the home sharing stopped working.
This problem isn't only with home sharing. I can't connect to a FTP server, use AirVideo, AirPlay, share files in network....
I have already called to Apple Brazil, but they don't know what's Home Sharing.
Does anybody can help me?

Hi,
Face Time works in Snow Leopard.
EZ Jim (A fellow Poster) tells me that the Original blurb for the Beta version said 10.6.4 at least.
The Current version is purchasable through the Mac App store and that should have been placed on your Snow Leopard Dock some updates ago.
I have the beta Installed on a 2007 MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard. (Internal iSight Camera version 1,1)
11:21 PM Saturday; July 9, 2011
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb( 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.7),
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Home sharing, issues with multiple libraries

I'm having issues getting home sharing to work the way I want it to. I've got two seperate libraries on one computer. I have them both set to the same home share name and all that good stuff but I can only view one library at a time. For example, if I have library A open in itunes then all of my devices can access library A. If I switch to library B in itunes then I can see library B on all of my devices. I want to be able to access both libraries at the same time wirelessly via home sharing. From the research I've done this should be possible.
Another thing I noticed is that when I am in itunes the other library doesn't show up under 'shared' even though I have all of the sharing options I was able to find enabled.
My OS (windows 7 x64 professional), software (itunes, bonjour, etc), individual devices (ipad and ipad 2) and drivers are all up to date.

I'm glad to hear that it's not just me. I have iTunes libraries on a Mac Mini and on my Macbook. They show up in the shared section in iTunes on the opposite machines, as well as on my 2nd Generation Apple TV. They even show up in the Remote app on my iDevices. However, only one shows up in the iPod music app on the iPhone 3GS and iPad, as well as the iPad video app.
Hopefully, this gets fixed soon. I keep my podcasts on my Macbook and that's the library that's not showing up on the iDevices iPod app.

Home Sharing issue with multiple iTunes libraries

I'm hoping someone out there has a suggestion to help solve the problem I'm having with the new iOS 4.3 Home Sharing.
I have an iMac and a MacBook Pro both running the latest system and iTunes versions. Each has an iTunes library with Home Sharing turned on. All works fine between them -- each iTunes library shows up on the other computer's as a shared library. We also have a 2nd gen Apple TV that sees both computers correctly, e.g., both libraries show up under computers on the Apple TV.
The problem is with my iPad and 4th gen iPod touch. Both have been updated to 4.3. I signed in to Home Sharing in the Music setting without a problem. Everything is on the same local WiFi network. The problem is that only one of the iTunes libraries shows up as a Shared Library. And it's not consistent as far as which one shows up, the laptop or the iMac. Sometimes it'll be one, sometimes it's the other. Never is it both of them so I can select which one I want to access. This doesn't really make sense to me, as they both do show up on the Apple TV. Both of my iOS devices have this problem. Is it really supposed to function this way?
Any suggestions?

I'm glad to hear that it's not just me. I have iTunes libraries on a Mac Mini and on my Macbook. They show up in the shared section in iTunes on the opposite machines, as well as on my 2nd Generation Apple TV. They even show up in the Remote app on my iDevices. However, only one shows up in the iPod music app on the iPhone 3GS and iPad, as well as the iPad video app.
Hopefully, this gets fixed soon. I keep my podcasts on my Macbook and that's the library that's not showing up on the iDevices iPod app.

Home Sharing issues with iPad update 7.2.1

Please help, this is very frustrating.
I was able to use my home sharing on my iPad before I did the update 7.2.1
Since updating, now when I load my shared library on my iPad and I go to play a song, it skips to the next song, then the next, then the next, etc. very fast.
I had my friend bring their iPad over that did not do the update yet, and it worked just fine so I know for sure it isn't a network issue, or a firewall issue.
Anybody else experiencing this? Please help! I would love to find a way to make this work without restoring my iPad and just not doing the update.

Restoring the iPad will simply erase the device and reinstall the most recent iOS anyway. You cannot go back to an earlier iOS version now.
One of the most basic things to try would be to reset your iPad and see if that fixes it.
Reset the iPad by holding down on the sleep and home buttons at the same time for about 10-15 seconds until the Apple Logo appears - ignore the red slider if it appears on the screen - let go of the buttons. Let the iPad start up.

Home Sharing Issues with 2 Apple IDs

Hello, I have home sharing enabled and working between my MBP and my son's Mini. He successfully transferred most of my music to his machine, but cannot transfer a bunch of songs. Looking into it further, the common thread between the songs that cannot be transferred is that they all show my old Apple ID when I open Get Info on them. Sometime last year I changed my Apple ID for my iTunes account (I did this so I was using the same Apple ID for my iPhone developer account as my iTunes account.) Any song I have purchases since then can be transferred via home sharing, but any song purchased prior to changing my Apple ID cannot. Ideally, I'd like all of my purchased items to have my new Apple ID. Any ideas on how to resolve this? Thanks in advance.

That depends on what you have used her new ID for.
If you've used it for iCloud she can now keep her mail, contacts etc private, but if you keep using the same ID as she has done previously for iTunes and homesharing, your music, apps etc can still be used by both of you.

HT5372 Is iCloud tab not shared with Windows PCs with Mac or iOS operated devices?

Is iCloud tab not shared with Windows PCs with Mac or iOS operated devices?
I have iPad mini with iOS 8 and a PC with Windows 7 .
I'm trying to set up iCloud. and installed on both but can't see shared devices.

I think you have to use internet explorer to login to icloud.com on your windows pc to see the content.

I have an apple tv 3 but when i use Home Sharing from my Windows Laptop the Apple TV shows all my music on the TV but it will only play 1 or 2 songs and then stops!!! Annoying, so I have to re-start iTunes on my Laptop and it will play 1 or 2 more songs

I have an apple tv 3 but when i use Home Sharing from my Windows Laptop the Apple TV shows all my music on the TV but it will only play 1 or 2 songs and then stops!!! Annoying, so I have to re-start iTunes on my Laptop and it will play 1 or 2 more songs then stops again!!! still annoying.
Can anyone assist me with this issue?
Thanks

To downgrade, you'll need to download the previous software version here: ATV3 http://appldnld.apple.com/AppleTV/041-4361.20120605.grjot/AppleTV3,1_5.0.2_9B830 _Restore.ipsw
ATV2: http://appldnld.apple.com/AppleTV/041-4362.20120605.t8i4U/AppleTV2,1_5.0.2_9B830 _Restore.ipsw
Next, plug the Apple TV into your computer with a micro-usb cable (most phones today use these) and start up Itunes. It should detect the Apple TV in recovery.
After that, hold down Option on Apple or Alt on Windows and click Restore. This should open a window that allows you to select the software update you want to apply. Select the one you downloaded earlier.
It will then go through the restore process, which takes only a few minutes, and then you will be able to plug the Apple TV back in to your display and set it up again.
I recently ran into a similar issue with a bunch of these things and after restoring them all to the previous software version they are working again.

Apple TV Home Sharing Issue (SOLVED for me)

I had been having problems with Home Sharing while other functions (Netflix etc) worked fine. My setup is wireless using Time Capsule. My network was "open" (password not needed). I had tried everything from recycling my DSL modem and Time Capsule and turning Home Sharing off and on (on my computer and the Apple TV) without success.
My Time Capsule has the ability to connect at 5GHz or 2.4GHz. Additionally, my networks may or may not be password protected. I finally changed to a network that required a password and my Home Shareing issue ended. Since that network change everything works fine.

I was going crazy trying to play music from my Itunes library and watch slideshows of my photos as, once started, the application would quit within a minute of starting. I called Apple Support and tried everything they sughgested - restart, restore etc. Finally, I turned my router off and let it reset. When I turned it back on. everything worked. I could have saved a lot of aggravation had I been instructed to do so originally.

Home Sharing issues with Windows PCs

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