ITunes Home Sharing not working

I have an Apple TV purchased around a year ago and have the latest software update installed. I also have two Windows machines, one running Windows 7 64bit, and the other running Windows XP SP3 - both with the latest iTunes software version and Bonjour software.
Before I am told to "Buy a Mac", I already own one of those as well...an old PowerMac G5 tower.
iTunes on both the Windows machines appears to be missing some code somewhere concerning Home Sharing services.
To start off with, when I enter the Preferences panel, under the Sharing tab, it does not give me the option to "Look for Shared Libraries". Also the majority of the time (when opened) the panel does not give the standard "OK" and "CANCEL" buttons on the bottom of the window, even after a setting is changed.
Next, I have ensured that both machines, and the AppleTV are logged on to the same Apple ID account for Home Sharing.
The iTunes main windows does not show the Home Sharing option from the left hand menu bar of consisting of Devices, iTunes Store, and Music Library.
I was hoping that today's download of the latest update for iTunes would have fixed this problem, alas, it did not...
The last time my Home Sharing worked the way it should was in in my previous residence when I had my PowerMac G5 as the host to my Music Library. This same Windows XP machine was able to see the shared library, as well as the Apple TV. This was so long ago, I could not tell you what version of iTunes I was running then...
Any ideas, thoughts? Unfortunately I am now in a different state than my PowerMac, so I am unable to use it for troubleshooting purposes...
Just for the **** of it, I am completely restoring my Apple TV's settings in the hope that somehow this fixes the issue...however even I am doubtful that this will help the problem of the two computers not being able to share libraries with one another... -Dewyz1100

Problem solved, however not the way I would have preferred...
Turns out that I needed to disconnect the hardwired ethernet connection between my router and the Apple TV.
I my setup consisted of a traditional hardwired Linksys router, and a matching Linksys access point.
Both my computers were on the wireless network setup by the access point, and were able to communicate between each other just fine.
However, for whatever reason neither one would communicate with the AppleTV while it was hardwired to the router. Once I unplugged it, and assigned it to the same wireless network as the computers were on, it was able to see both computers without any problems...
Not too upset, seeing as how the AppleTV is only about a foot from the access point and router - so there are no signal strength issues. However, I would have preferred to keep the AppleTV on the hardwired connection...
Hope this comes in handy for anyone else with this problem...

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ITunes Home Sharing not working in Windows 8 with Apple TV

My Home Sharing does not work on Apple TV 2 - I am running the latest version of itunes, apple tv software, all windows updates installed, all firewall ports required are open, anti-virus is allowing things through, I have reset and restarted my apple tv, pc and routers, unticked IPv6 - still nothing - please help!

Problem solved, however not the way I would have preferred...
Turns out that I needed to disconnect the hardwired ethernet connection between my router and the Apple TV.
I my setup consisted of a traditional hardwired Linksys router, and a matching Linksys access point.
Both my computers were on the wireless network setup by the access point, and were able to communicate between each other just fine.
However, for whatever reason neither one would communicate with the AppleTV while it was hardwired to the router. Once I unplugged it, and assigned it to the same wireless network as the computers were on, it was able to see both computers without any problems...
Not too upset, seeing as how the AppleTV is only about a foot from the access point and router - so there are no signal strength issues. However, I would have preferred to keep the AppleTV on the hardwired connection...
Hope this comes in handy for anyone else with this problem...

ITunes 10.6.3 home sharing not working properly

iTunes 10.6.3 home sharing not working properly. I can access with my three ATV2's watch a movie later that same day it tries to access and ATV2 just keeps trying and never gets through to the library. If I restart iTunes its fine then later can't access. I am running iTunes 10.6.3 on a i7 Mac Mini with 10.7.4. Sole job is to be iTunes server and an occasional HTPC with remote buddy running. I disabled remote buddy ajax remote feature, and file sharing is on so I can load new tracks form other macs Thats it, a vanilla install with all updates.. No problem prior but not sure if problem free period was with 10.6 earler versions or 10.5 versions. I update as warnings to do so come up. The remote app has same problem accessing the Home Share. I disabled home sharing on my iPhone and set to access the old method with 4 digit code and sees all the time and will play to my express base stations so seems to be home sharing issue because iPhone apps with home sharing on and ATV2s have issue accessing.
I'm never home but when I am I use this equipment loads and this weekend not reliable at all. I have firewall disabled, and setup is as before and is working fine. I am using Mini by ethernet and using AEBS 1st generation gigabit as router only wired to cable modem and whole house ethernet attached, latest version AEBS gigabit as a wireless bridge and 2 prior version 11n expresses and a 11g express, all expresses are set to wireless off and are connected to ethernet and then to a stereo in 3 different rooms.
I can't be only one. Considering downgrading to last version of 10.5 but not sure how to do this.
How many of you are having trouble?
Any resolutions?
How to report to Apple?
How to downgrade safely? Or is it 10.7.4?

I ran into the specific problem in another thread. There are more than 100 connections from the apple TV's to iTunes. You can do a netstat -a (windows or Mac), and verify the problem. iTunes is smart enough to stop allowing more than 100 connections but stupid to allow the ATV to create so many connections.
Now for what you really want! Set all of your ATVs to wifi only. Even setting the iTunes host to wifi might help also. I think that wifi is more unreliable, and forces connections to drop, keeping the count under 100.
I also turned off ip v6. That could help you also. I originally had problems on a Mac mini, and built a windows 7 box to try to fix the problem. The wifi trick worked on both platforms. Several of us have bug reports into apple. I have a wired house also, and am very angry to NEED to use slow wifi to overcome this problem. The ATV gen 3 has been able to keep up with 1080p over wifi, so it doesn't hurt too much. What really hurts is spending over 40 hours troubleshooting this bug.

Home shareing not working

home sharing not working in version 10.3.6

Home sharing is only supported on version of iTunes that run on OS X 10.5 or later. You could go to the app store and purchase the Mountain Lion update for $19.99, then update iTunes and then it should be easy to set up.

Does Home Sharing not work through a network extender?

Home sharing seems to cut out whenever I get into range of my network extender (Airport Express).
Here's my setup, it's pretty standard: Cable modem wired to Airport Extreme router, which is connected wirelessly to the MBP with my iTunes hard drive. All of this is in my living room.
I use the Airport Express to extend my network into the bedrooms.
Whenever I'm home sharing from my iTunes library on my iPhone, if I walk to my bedroom, it cuts out. It usually crashes the iPod app. If it doesn't completely crash it, I can get it to restart buffering if I walk back to the living room.
Does Home Sharing not work with wireless extenders? Do I have to change something in the set up?

However, when a device goes from being attached to one wireless device to another, there is often an interruption as the device must change the radio connection to the network. There is a brief period of no connectivity (a second or two)
Try starting the share while in your bedroom instead of the living room. I'll bet it works.
Makes sense - so it's a bug in the iPhone OS, that it's unable to recover from temporary interruptions to wifi connection?
However, I'm not so sure. Starting the share in the bedroom works as you suggest (since 4.3.2 - didn't under 4.3.1) - but as soon as you go back to the living room and the iPhone connects to a different base station the music stops playing. Note also that the shared library itself ceases to work. So for example you can't be in one room (on the extender) and add the shared library (without actually playing anything yet) then move to another room (on the base station) and play a track from the shared library. It just plays dead and you have to explicitly reload the shared library to get anything to play.
So is it maybe a bug also with iTunes that it can't keep up with a shared library client moving from one wifi station to another?
How do you report these things to the people that matter by the way?

Iphone and ipod losing sync with shared itunes library - home sharing not working

I hope this can help some people who have had problems with syncing their IOS devices to their shared itunes library.
Having had a lot of trouble with syncing and sharing my itunes libraries from two PC's to an iphone 4 and 4S via "itunes home sharing", I decided to try and find a solution using typical search engine search phrases. I found a number of issues similar to mine that pointed toward local network protocols such as media serving, and the ability or lack of ability to use these protocols by DSL routers.
My solution was simple, change the DSL router. My ISP supplied DSL router was the problem, not being able to identify that the PC's hosting my itunes libraries become media servers when itunes home sharing is switched on. My DSL box is a Tesco Broadband branded/firmware Thomson TG580. As a test I tried out a box from my previous supplier, an O2 branded/firmware Thomson/Technicolor TG582n. Although this wont work with my ISP connection, it will work as a wirless/wired router. As soon as I connected this all together, it worked first time without any hassle. I was mirroring my shared HD videos via the itunes home shared library to my 4S perfectly.
I know this may not help most people, but if you have the chance to test another wireless router, give it a go. Having had a good look, I can't find an Apple compatibility list. Maybe this is something they could do, or maybe someone can point out a site that may have this info?
I am by no means an Apple Fanboy, but I have to say that a lot of the complaints about the home sharing between itunes, ipods, iphones, Apple TV etc. may simply be the router and not itunes or the IOS devices.
My setup is PC's running the latest itunes with Win 7 32 & 64 bit and my IOS devices on 6, I also tested an iphone 4 on IOS 5 that worked perfectly. My 4S is now a perfect HDMI media player/streamer for my itunes music and videos encoded to H.264 using Handbrake.

Assuimg you have the latest ATV firmware, at the bottom of the general settings menu on your apple TV there is an option to reset your apple TV. Try that and then reset it up back on your network.
Before testing ensure the correct time/date/nearest City is setup in the ATV settings and re-enter your apple ID/password and turn on home sharing. You can connect to your network either via wifi or cable and see if it then works.
Resetting the ATV and then checking and re-entering all my settings worked for me.
I guess if not, then the next step is to disable any firewall on your PC and see if that works after the PC is rebooted.
Hope this helps.
Regards... Ken Griffiths

Home sharing not working between itunes and apple tv, I've read all help articles I could find... still nothing

Hey there!
Here's every detail of the problem:
1- My iTunes (10.5.2) doesn't give me any options for apple tv in any menu. Some troubleshooting article I remember said something like «go to Settings - Apple TV - Always Search for Apple TVs» or something like that, yet my itunes settings have NOTHING for Apple TV.
2- Following all setup instructions and usual troubleshooting solutions, i KNOW that all options and settings available to me are set correctly and everything should work normally, yet my iTunes shows no recognition of my Apple TV AND my Apple TV «Computers» menu is nothing but a «Home Sharing is turned on, make sure that all Home Sharing devices are using the same Apple ID account» message.
3- Of course, yes, all my devices ARE setup with the same Apple ID account, with Home Sharing turned on everywhere. Also I'm not using a Firewall, and none of my devices have any trouble connecting to my one and only router, all at once.
So I figure the main problem is my itunes acting like Apple TV doesn't exist. Any ideas/solutions?
Thanks in advance.

Sharing Stopped working again over night.
I went to Apple Support Artical TS2972
As soon as I did this Home Sharing started working
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972
Firewall Section
5. Check Firewall Settings
If you have a firewall enabled in your router or computer, make sure that the firewall is not blocking communication between your computers. Home Sharing uses TCP port 3689 and UDP port 5353 to communicate with shared iTunes libraries.
In addition, Apple TV and Mac computers will use port 123 to set the time automatically. Incorrect date and time on either the computer or Apple TV can cause errors for Home Sharing and connections in general.
If you are unsure whether your router has a firewall or the required ports open, test additional devices or another network to help isolate the issue. If the devices tested work on another home network, it is your router or network configuration.
For Mac OS X, you don't have to edit the port addresses, but make sure the firewall in Apple () menu > System Preferences > Security > Firewall are not set to:
Block all incoming connections
Allow only essential services
If you use another security/firewall software on your computer or router, follow this article or contact the manufacturer or check the documentation on how to open TCP ports 123 and 3689 as well as UDP ports 123 and 5353.
It made sense to me, but its still puzzling me after restarting a router would (in my first attempt) resolve the issue for a day. This this time I applied the port forwarding TCP and UDP ports and saved the settings in the DLink DIR-655 and both my iPad2 and iPhone 3GS were now again finding the share. My ATV2 is also now accepting the Share.
Tommorrow will be the true test.

Home Sharing not working between wireless PC's / devices and ethernet wired PC's on the same router.

Home Sharing is not working between wireless PC's / devices and ethernet wired PC's on the same router. I installed a new Verizon FIOS ActionTec MI424WR GigE wireless / ethernet router, replacing the original FIOS router. With the old router Home Sharing worked fine across and among all iOS and Windows wired and wireless devices. With the new router Home Sharing works between and among the Wired PC's but not between the wired PC's and the Wireless connected PC's or iOS devices. Home Sharing also works between and among the wireless connected PC's and iOS decices but not between them and the wired PC's.
Only the router was changed. No changes were made to any of the devices except all were updated with the latest version of iTunes 10.7.0.21 and the iSO devices were updated to iOS vrsion 6.01. Three PC's are wired and all are running Windows 7. There also is a Windows Home Server connected to the router by ethernet port. It does not run iTunes but does provide WebDAV services to my iOS devices. This works fine. Two PC's are wireless, one running Windows 7 and one running Windows 8. All of the PC's are connected to the same (new) router via it's ethernet ports and it's wireless access point. Two of the wired PC's are connected via a high-speed ethernet hup that is connected to the router (Home Sharing works fine between the two PC's on the hub and the PC on the router). All wired and wireless devices on the router are visible and members of the router's Home/Office virtual network.
All of the PC's are visible in the Windows network and all shared files are accessable from all PC's, both wired and wireless.
Obviously the router seems to be the issue, something between the ethernet and the wireless access point components. I checked the settings and found nothing that would prevent Home Sharing between the wired and wireless devices. There is no setting that isolates the wireless network. I have done the following:
Read the router user manual and checked all the settings
Rebooted the router and tested.
Turned off the router's firewall and tested.
Home Sharing is turned on all the devices and all use the same Apple ID.
Restarted iTunes and tested.
Verified iTunes is "Allowed" in each PC's firewall.
Again, I can Home Share between the two wireless PC's but not between either of the wireless PC's and any of the wired PC's. I can Home Share between my iPads and iPhones and either of the two wireless PC's but not with any of the wired PC's. I can Home Share between any of the wired PC's but not between any wired PC and a wireless PC or iOS device.
I hope someone may have had a similar problem and has a fix suggestion. I'm stumped! I have a;so contacked ActionTec and awaiting an answer.

Solution from ActionTec is:
Log into your router.
Click the Advanced icon
Cclick Yes
Click on the IGMP Proxy
Select Disable
Click Apply

Home Sharing not working

I have a macpro and a macbook pro, home sharing no longer works on either computer since upgrading to itunes 10.4 Home sharing shows up on the left hand side of itunes under 'shared' and when I click on it says 'loading xxxxxxxx's music' but after minute or two, nothing happens.
I've never been able to get home sharing to work via my macpro to share my macbook pro's music, which has been frustrating, but now it's not working via the macbook pro either.
I've tried everything, turned it off, restarted, checked firewalls, router, airport connections... the lot! I can share my screen and use back to my mac no problem.
Anyone having a similar situation? I rely on it on a regular basis as I work in music so need to copy tracks back and forth.

I've been having the same problem. Two macbook pros with lion and itunes 10.4 and a first gen apple tv...nothing shares anymore. I don't even get to the "loading music" part because as soon as I click ok for home sharing, nothing even shows up. My apple tv doesnt even show up on either one of the macbooks and i remember like a week or two ago, it was working fine because the option for airtunes (playing my itunes thru apple tv speakers) was available then. Now, nothing. No airtunes, no libraries, no apple tv, not even the sharing list on the side shows up anymore

Home sharing not working but airplay is

I was watching some videos streaming from my MacBook Pro to my Apple TV (4.2.2) and after a while it refused to stream.
I reset my DSL router, my Airport AP, rebooted the MacBook Pro, hard booted the Apple TV and so far it won't stream from any of the three Macs I have set up for Home Sharing.
Airplay works fine. Streaming Movie previews from the iTunes Store works fine. Streaming Purchased Content from the iTunes store does not work. The Remote App from my iTouch and iPad both have no problem controlling the Apple TV.
All I get is that swirly 'waiting' animation. This is the same regardless of whether it is purchased (protected) content or not.
I've got the latest versions of iTunes on all the Macs and am using the same account on each.
One thing I haven't tried yet -- the account I'm using is an @mac.com, not @me.com. I read that these are supposed to be equivalent but could there be something squirrelly going on with that?

Good to know your Apple IDs are fine.
So I've been experimenting with de-authorizing and re-authorizing computers and devices and the symptoms you are experiencing are reminiscent of devices and computers unable to authenticate with Apple's servers.
What I would do is try de-authorizing and re-authorizing computers and devices to see if things return to normal. Start with the computers first. You can quickly de-authorize the computers by logging in to your iTunes Store account and using the 'Deauthorize All' button. After clicking the button wait a few minutes for it to propagate. You will know that the computers have been de-authorize when the Account Information page says "0 computers are authorized to play content purchased with this Apple ID." Other devices like Apple TV and iPads and such do not count on that list.
Once de-authorized, re-authorize them from the 'Store' menu in the iTunes app. You will know all three computers have been re-authorized when the Account Information page says "3 computers are authorized to play content purchased with this Apple ID." Now try and play your content with Apple TV. If it still doesn't work turn Home Sharing off on the Apple TV and then re-enable it using your Apple ID.
Hopefully this brings back your Home Sharing functionality.

Home sharing not working on apple tv

Purchased and set up new iMac 21.5", 2.7 ghz. Everything is set up and going well. I simply cannot get home sharing to work with my Apple TV. Both are set to the same Apple ID...but don't seem to recognize one another. Help?

Yes, itunes is up and running when I try this. If the iTunes is not running, then on the APPLE TV, I get error saying the library is not shared. And when the iTUnes is open, the connection starts to happen and then times out. That makes me think that the request reaches gto the iTunes.
NEver worked, trying this for the first time. Using the same apple ID on both the devices. I have an iPhone too that also cant connect to the shared library. iTunes version is latest.
Thanks.

Home sharing not working between mac and pc, but it is fine between mac and mac. Help!!!

Good Evening Dear Gurus,
Hi, I am writing this to ask for help regarding home sharing. Yes I do know they are several threads out there that already explains or rather given solution on how to tackle this problem. BUT the my problem is rather different. I am no computer expert myself, so here is the problem, apparently MY MAC can home share with another MAC, but both of this MAC cannot home share with the PC.
Does anyone encounter this kind of problem before? Can anyone help a poor guy out? Thanks in advance. love to hear from the community soon!
Thanks!

Sharing Stopped working again over night.
I went to Apple Support Artical TS2972
As soon as I did this Home Sharing started working
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972
Firewall Section
5. Check Firewall Settings
If you have a firewall enabled in your router or computer, make sure that the firewall is not blocking communication between your computers. Home Sharing uses TCP port 3689 and UDP port 5353 to communicate with shared iTunes libraries.
In addition, Apple TV and Mac computers will use port 123 to set the time automatically. Incorrect date and time on either the computer or Apple TV can cause errors for Home Sharing and connections in general.
If you are unsure whether your router has a firewall or the required ports open, test additional devices or another network to help isolate the issue. If the devices tested work on another home network, it is your router or network configuration.
For Mac OS X, you don't have to edit the port addresses, but make sure the firewall in Apple () menu > System Preferences > Security > Firewall are not set to:
Block all incoming connections
Allow only essential services
If you use another security/firewall software on your computer or router, follow this article or contact the manufacturer or check the documentation on how to open TCP ports 123 and 3689 as well as UDP ports 123 and 5353.
It made sense to me, but its still puzzling me after restarting a router would (in my first attempt) resolve the issue for a day. This this time I applied the port forwarding TCP and UDP ports and saved the settings in the DLink DIR-655 and both my iPad2 and iPhone 3GS were now again finding the share. My ATV2 is also now accepting the Share.
Tommorrow will be the true test.

ITunes Home Sharring not working correctly.

My itunes homesharing is not working correctly. I have a Windows 8 computer and I am trying to share with my partners Widows 7 computer. Both computers are running the newest version of itunes 11 (downloaded yesterday). I sign in and turned on home sharring with the same user id and password. For the first 20-30 mins it worked perfectly, I could open her library and she could open mine and we could download songs from each other with no issue. We closed both computers and about 2 hours later turned them on to try again. Now my computer (Windows8) always shows up on hers but her computer only shows up about 1/2 the time for me, and half of that time if you click on her computer it says loading then stops and her computer has disapperard again. I can eventually get it to work after many turning off and on of home sharring but it take about 15-20min each time to get it working. Is this a problem others have seen? Does anyone know a solution?

This issue has now been completely resolved with the introduction of iTunes 9.2 Everything up and running again - thank you Apple! (Still an issue with Dictionary app/Wikipedia not functioning correctly, this has not been resolved)

ITunes home share not working Windows 7 and KB2840149

I installed KB2840149 last night after the install and reboot the function of my iTunes home sharing to my apple TV stopped working.
I uninstalled KB2840149 and rebooted and the functionality returned. I haven't had time to look in to this futher, but as its a new update otheres may be experiencing this.
I am using Windows 7 home premium 64bit, iTunes 10.7.0.21 and apple TV 2 build 5.2.1 (6025) on a gigabit Ethernet network

ok just make sure if still is working because it seem realtek has a problem with itunes to be specific with the shrared folders and try to avoid new updates for the realtek until you sure it works hope this help and good luck

ITune home sharing stops working if I enalbe WIFI sync for my iPad

I am using iTune 11.2.0.115 (64bit) on win 7 fully updated to May 28, 2014 win-updates. After upgrading to latest itune 11.2.0.115, I have noticed when I enable "Sync over WIFI" in my iTune for my iPad or iPhone, the iTune home sharing icon just disappers from left side panel and will not share no matter what steps I take. I have read and followed all the steps for trouble shooting home-sharing for itune. Such as re-install, disable ip6 etc...
I share my media out of a win 7 and I have another win 7, Mac, apple TV, ipad and iphone which they do not see my main libirary until I un-check the sync over wifi. However Mac and the Other win 7 can see each other's shared library.
I can re-produce this problem each and every time.
thx

Hi Rick9814911,
If you are having issues with intermittant disconnects when using Home Sharing, you may find the following article helpful:
Apple Support: Troubleshooting Home Sharing
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972
Regards,
- Brenden

ITunes Home Sharing not working

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