Optimize iMac to stream

I just got my Apple TV and I want to make sure that I set my iMac up to stream as best as possible. Should I turn off my screen saver, shut down other programs, or not allow the iMac to go to sleep? I have watched a few movies and I noticed some choppiness. Will any changes to my computer like those above help out?

as long as you're not using any processor/memory intensive programs while you're streaming it shouldn't be an issue... the real issue will be your network connection bandwidth and any other traffic... however, sleep would cause a problem unless you have it set that the network can wake the computer... i just turn the display off and never sleep.
maxing out your RAM never hurts either but if a good amount is free and you're not taxing the system you should be fine.

Similar Messages

My itunes on my imac cannot stream my music by my airport express. It says unknown error (-15006). My ipad it is no problem.

My itunes on my imac cannot stream my music by my airport express. It says unknown error (-15006). With my ipad it is no problem.
My imac has been working before.

Hello JBrans!
Did you get help for this problem. Today I got the same problem. Now I don´t know what I can do anything. I did reset AirPort Express. New konfiguration. Nothing. Thank for help!
Kind regards
Falk H.

Question about networking iMac and streaming video to TV

I have the 24" iMac 2.66GHz with 4 G ram. Currently using Motorola SBG900 (Docsis 2) cable modem & router to stream Comcast through house (another PC, iPhones, LG Blu Ray player/digital video streamer).
Recently acquired a Netgear Rangemax 3700 which is supposed to be the fastest current wireless router. Here are my questions:
1) Can I just use the Motorola SBG900 as modem ONLY and run the ethernet out of it to the Netgear router (thus bypassing the router built into the SBG900). Will this accelerate the streaming of video to other receivers?
2) Would I be better off with a Motorola 6120 Docsis 3 Cable modem feeding the Netgear router (even though my Comcast cable feed is Docsis 2, not 3)?
3) Since my Comcast account is rated 10 Mbps max (though it sometimes goes up to 15 or so late at night) and I believe the existing Motorola SBG90 is rated at 54 Mbps, is the limiting factor the speed of my Comcast connection and all else doesn't matter? That is, is it impossible to speed up my streaming or download speed without a faster connection to the Internet?
4) What kinds of connections are there that are faster than Comcast cable connections?
Basically, I don't want to waste money or time if I'm already at the maximum throughput available given my connection. If I can get marginal speed increases by adding new modem and router, that's fine. I'll do that.
Thanks for your help.
PS: I owned and returned the Airport Extreme Base Station. It did not increase the speed of my connection or streaming, but then it tested very poorly at www.smallnetbuilder.com -- about half the speed of the Netgear Rangemax.

Can't help with Q 1 + 2, but here are some things to consider re:
+3) Since my Comcast account is rated 10 Mbps max (though it sometimes goes up to 15 or so late at night) and I believe the existing Motorola SBG90 is rated at 54 Mbps, is the limiting factor the speed of my Comcast connection and all else doesn't matter? That is, is it impossible to speed up my streaming or download speed without a faster connection to the Internet?+
My Comcast account is rated 15 Mbps and I never get that. I've done everything I can here including Cat 6 cables (instead of Cat 5), but the major problem/hangup in my case is: Comcast is using 20-year old buried cables from their hub (approx. 10 mi across town) to the neighborhoods here - those cables are "leftovers" from the company Comcast purchased the rights from. So, we not only have old cables, but the little boxes all over the neighborhood feed at least 6 - 10 homes each, so you are sharing the available bandwidth with the neighbors. And, whenever everyone seems to be online at the same time, my downloads slow down to a c r a w l (as slow or slower than dialup occasionally!).
So, unless you have a better/newer cable setup where you are, you need to keep that in mind; in that case, no matter what you do, you are at the mercy of Comcast's equipment and your neighbors' usage.
4) The only one I know of is FioS (fiber optic).

IMac intel : streaming QT doesn't work

Hi!
I'm not able with my imac intel to see QT live streaming events (like Keynotes of Jobs).
Before, with my iMac G5, the streaming QT worked well...now I've not changed any parameter of modem but the streaming doesn't work more.

I have the same problem. QuickTime streaming is not working and I am unable to use iChat AV (video chat).
My iMac Core Duo is behind a router, has a fix IP address and is connected to the router via ethernet cable.
I tried to switch the QuickTime streaming setting from automatic to port 80 (http) with no success.
Changing the set up of the router and placing the iMac into the DMZ solves the problem (but creates an other problem, within the DMZ the iMac is exposed to the internet, nothing I like to do).
Just forwarding port UDP 554 to the iMac doesn't help, the iMac has to be in the DMZ.
I have the impression that at some point in the initial communication between client and host a bit order error occurs and a wrong port number is used by Mac OS X on Intel.

IMac not streaming from Match, says cannot find location

I have most of my music on an external harddrive which was connected to my iMac. All those songs are uploaded or matched to my Match. I have unplugged the harddrive (since my iMac does not like firewire and will freeze, another issue completely) but now my computer will not stream the songs from my Match that were read through this computer. Songs that were uploaded/matched through my old work computer play fine on this computer, but it seems to be looking for these songs as if they were still connected to the harddrive and completely ignores Match.
I have turned off Match and turned it back on to rescan and it's still doing it. Everything plays fine through my iPhone 5.
Am I just not understanding how this works or am I doing something wrong?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

iTunes Match does not change your local library without specific instruction.
So your local library will look for Songs on the original 'now disconnected' drive.
It is very important that you make a full secure backup of your original Song files, once complete, try the following:
1. Create a Smart Playlist with the conditions, Location is 'on this computer' and Media Kind is music.
2. Select 4-5 Songs as a trial and delete the local Songs.
3. They will vanish from the playlist - find them in the library and play them (they will stream from iCloud).
If you are content, you can remove all Songs from the playlist, leaving a library that will look to the iCloud for these Songs.

IMac silent stream bug?

I have my iMac conected to my Onkyo reciever via a toslink optical audio cable. On the reciever it shows PCM, which is uncompressed stereo channel audio coming from my iMac. When I play music or videos or any other audio, the PCM text shows up on the reciever. When I stop playing the audio source, like pausing an iTunes song, after a couple of seconds PCM dissapears, meaning the stream is stopped. As long as audio is being streamed to the reciever PCM is shown, however, when it does not display PCM, and I go to resume a song, it takes a couple seconds for the iMac to send the signal as well as it takes time for the reciever to start the stream and turn on PCM.
The 'silent stream bug' is prevelant in windows computers as well, even worse that it is with my iMac. There is a program for windows called 'AVR Audio Guard' that is basically a temporary fix until microsoft fixes the bug. There is no such application available for OS X. Some people believe it has something to do with graphics cards, but it isn't relevant.
I have made a temporary program that actually just plays a silent wav file on loop indefinitely, which isn't optimal because it uses up some of the cpu as well as when I have to shut down, I have to force quit it before the iMac can shut down.
My question is, how can I fix this bug/problem or is it something that apple must fix?
Does anyone else have this issue?

were you able to find a fix for this? i connected my macbook pro via hdmi to my receiver and first part of the song is always cut and movies too whenever theres a quiet part the receiver shuts off sound then when sound plays again first part of the sound will get cut off. is there any fix for this?

Optimize iMac for FIOS with Apple Broadband Tuner

I am a recent Mac convert and am trying to optimize my Apple settings for an iMac 27" for Verizon FIOS, I downloaded the Apple Broadband tuner as suggested by Verizon, but do not know how to use it to optimize my settings.
Thank you.

You simply double click on broadband tuner and it sets your sysctl variables to the values shown. I think these buffer values may be outdated at this point.

Optimize iMac Storage for the new upcoming Foto app ?

Hi,
i know that on iOS 8.x the new Foto app will be able to reduce storage foto/video size downloading on iPhone/iPad only a smaller foto/video files.
But the same will be also for iMac devices ?
Assuming i'll have an iMac with only 256 flash hard disk and 1TB of iCloud foto/video i'll be able to have on my iMac all my foto/video library automagically in a reduced file size ?
Thanks

Details haven't been released yet.

Best free app to optimize iMac?

Im not sure if this is the right group to post this but what is the best free app to run to maximize your iMac's performance? Been looking and would like to get some input, thanks in advance for your help.

How to maintain a Mac
1. Make redundant backups, keeping at least one off site at all times. One backup is not enough. Don’t back up your backups; make them independent of each other. Don’t rely completely on any single backup method, such as Time Machine. If you get an indication that a backup has failed, don't ignore it.
2. Keep your software up to date. In the Software Update preference pane, you can configure automatic notifications of updates to OS X and other Mac App Store products. Some third-party applications from other sources have a similar feature, if you don’t mind letting them phone home. Otherwise you have to check yourself on a regular basis. This is especially important for complex software that modifies the operating system, such as device drivers. Before installing any Apple update, you must check that all such modifications that you use are compatible.
3. Don't install crapware, such as “themes,” "haxies," “add-ons,” “toolbars,” “enhancers," “optimizers,” “accelerators,” “extenders,” “cleaners,” "tune-ups," “defragmenters,” “firewalls,” "barriers," “guardians,” “defenders,” “protectors,” most “plugins,” commercial "virus scanners,” "disk tools," or "utilities." With very few exceptions, this stuff is useless, or worse than useless.
The more actively promoted the product, the more likely it is to be garbage. The most extreme example is the “MacKeeper” scam.
As a rule, the only software you should install is that which directly enables you to do the things you use a computer for — such as creating, communicating, and playing — and does not modify the way other software works. Use your computer; don't fuss with it.
Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it. Otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.
The free anti-malware application ClamXav is not crap, and although it’s not routinely needed, it may be useful in some environments, such as a mixed Mac-Windows enterprise network.
4. Beware of trojans. A trojan is malicious software (“malware”) that the user is duped into installing voluntarily. Such attacks were rare on the Mac platform until sometime in 2011, but are now increasingly common, and increasingly dangerous.
There is some built-in protection against downloading malware, but you can’t rely on it — the attackers are always at least one day ahead of the defense. You can’t rely on third-party protection either. What you can rely on is common-sense awareness — not paranoia, which only makes you more vulnerable.
Never install software from an untrustworthy or unknown source. If in doubt, do some research. Any website that prompts you to install a “codec” or “plugin” that comes from the same site, or an unknown site, is untrustworthy. Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, must be acquired directly from the developer. No intermediary is acceptable, and don’t trust links unless you know how to parse them. Any file that is automatically downloaded from a web page without your having requested it should go straight into the Trash. A website that claims you have a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with your computer, is rogue.
In OS X 10.7.5 or later, downloaded applications and Installer packages that have not been digitally signed by a developer registered with Apple are blocked from loading by default. The block can be overridden, but think carefully before you do so.
Because of recurring security issues in Java, it’s best to disable it in your web browsers, if it’s installed. Few websites have Java content nowadays, so you won’t be missing much. This action is mandatory if you’re running any version of OS X older than 10.6.8 with the latest Java update. Note: Java has nothing to do with JavaScript, despite the similar names. Don't install Java unless you're sure you need it. Most users don't.
5. Don't fill up your boot volume. A common mistake is adding more and more large files to your home folder until you start to get warnings that you're out of space, which may be followed in short order by a boot failure. This is more prone to happen on the newer Macs that come with an internal SSD instead of the traditional hard drive. The drive can be very nearly full before you become aware of the problem. While it's not true that you should or must keep any particular percentage of space free, you should monitor your storage consumption and make sure you're not in immediate danger of using it up. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of free space on the startup volume for normal operation.
If storage space is running low, use a tool such as the free application OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the most space. Move rarely-used large files to secondary storage.
6. Relax, don’t do it. Besides the above, no routine maintenance is necessary or beneficial for the vast majority of users; specifically not “cleaning caches,” “zapping the PRAM,” "resetting the SMC," “rebuilding the directory,” "defragmenting the drive," “running periodic scripts,” “dumping logs,” "deleting temp files," “scanning for viruses,” "purging memory," "checking for bad blocks," or “repairing permissions.” Such measures are either completely pointless or are useful only for solving problems, not for prevention.
The very height of futility is running an expensive third-party application called “Disk Warrior” when nothing is wrong, or even when something is wrong and you have backups, which you must have. Disk Warrior is a data-salvage tool, not a maintenance tool, and you will never need it if your backups are adequate. Don’t waste money on it or anything like it.

You Tube stalls on iPad, laptop, iMac & iPhone stream fine

Side by side, my iPad & my Mac Air. You Tube videos play back uninterrupted on the laptop, they stall and download very slowly on the iPad. This happens even when these are the only 2 devices on the network. I've had no wifi problems. I assume that since all things are equal besides the device I'm using to see You Tube that the capability of the iPad is less then the Air. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

I've tested playing YouTube on 3 different Wifi hotspots and streaming performance is terrible on all of them. One thing I've noticed is that the videos I'm having most problems with are HD videos. For example this video runs for 2mins 51secs. Using the iPad this is still streaming after 25 minutes, and has more or less stalled after having only streamed half the content. When I try to stream the same video on my laptop (using the same Wifi network) it takes 2 minutes to fully stream.
On the other 2 wifi networks I tested on, I was not able to improve on this stream time using the iPad.

Why do some pics show up in my iMac photo stream as just a dotted line?

When I click to enlarge, the actual picture shows up. Other pics show as they should. From the image notation, it appears that both are originated from my iphone, and I cannot guess why some are different from others.

"Don't know what is there to complain about?"
Because a voice memo is not 'music'.
Is that not clear to you?

Can I setup multiple apple tv 2's in my house in seperate rooms and still stream from 1 iMac/iTunes?

I have an iMac 27" 2011 model and i recently purchased an Apple TV 2 and I am able to stream movies and music to it. I would like to buy 2 more apple tvs for two more tvs in my home, and I'm wandering A: if 1 iTunes and 1 iMac could stream to all of them and B: if you can stream a different movie to each device at the same time? Please help!!!

Either Apple were confused about what you were asking them one you were confused by what they told you, one library and multiple Apple TV's is perfectly possible, I have one library and 7 Apple TV's

IMac (on Ethernet) Can No Longer Stream to Airport Express (on WiFi)

After years of reliable service, all of a sudden I cannot stream music from iTunes on my iMac, via my Airport Express, to my stereo system.
First, a bit about my configuration:
   * iMac connected via Ethernet to a wireless router (D-Link DIR-655).
   * iMac Airport (WiFi) is turned off.
   * D-Link sets up a wireless network, and Airport Express joins the network.
   * Airport Express does not set up its own network, it's simply a client of the existing D-Link wireless network.
   * iTunes "sees" the Airport Express, and can stream audio via AirPlay.
   * iPad also joins the wireless network, and also can stream to the Airport Express via AirPlay.
   * iMac running 10.6.8, with all software updates applied.
   * Airport Express running latest firmware (7.6.1).
Well, that was a few days ago, when "it just worked". But for some unknown reason iTunes could no longer "see" the Airport Express.
So I took my Airport Express to the Apple Store and they did a Factory Reset, but it did not solve the problem. I figured my rather old Airport Express was failing, so today I bought a new one. The symptoms have changed a bit, but even after spending an hour on the phone with AppleCare, it doesn't work properly.
Now, the only way the iMac can stream to the Airport Express is if the iMac also joins the wireless network. In fact, now with Airport turned OFF on the iMac, the Airport Utility cannot see the Airport Express. But here's another weird thing: when I use the IP address of the Airport Express, the Airport Utility CAN connect with and manage the Airport Express, even with Airport turned OFF on the iMac!
I should also mention, the iPad has no issues whatsoever connecting to the D-Link's wireless network and streaming music to the Airport Express.
This all seems like something might have changed on the D-Link wireless router. But for the life of me, I cannot figure out what setting(s) on the router might allow the iMac - over Ethernet - to stream audio to the Airport Express.
Another thing. When I have Airport turned on on the iMac, it can "see" and stream to the Airport Express, but the music has very frequent drop-outs. Could this be related to the fact that the iMac has two IP addresses (one on Ethernet, one on WiFi)?
My goal is to get things "back to normal", where I can turn off Airport on the iMac, and all LAN and WAN traffic from the iMac goes over Ethernet. I have a few questions (for now :-)
   * Since my iMac has two connections to my LAN using two IP addresses (Ethernet & WiFi), is that likely to cause any issues?
   * When two computers join the same wireless LAN, can they effectively talk directly to one another, or does the wireless router need to be involved every time one computer sends a TCP or UDP packet to the other?
   * Do routers (or the DIR-655 in particular) tend to have any firewalls or policies that control connections on the LAN between Ethernet and WiFi clients?
   * Since AirPlay uses TCP port 3689 and UDP port 5353, would the DIR-655 need any special configuration to "open these ports" so an Ethernet client can connect with a WiFi client?
So, any help would be most appreciated!
Thanks!
Jim

I am having a very similar issue. I use my Airport Express (AX) to stream music from the computers on my network to my stereo via Airplay. I have AX set up to wirelessly join my existing wireless network, which uses a D-Link DIR-655 router hooked to a Time Warner cable modem. I can succesfully connect all of my wireless devices via Airplay, through iTunes to my AX, including two laptops and an iPhone. However, my primary desktop PC, which does not have a wireless card is linked directly via ethernet cable to my D-Link router, and it is not able to see my AX. Similar to your case, I can see the Airport Express from my PC through my Airport Utility by directly typing in the IP address. Note that the AX set-up option to allow Ethernet clients is checked. I also noticed that my laptops will stop detecting AX if I directly connect them to my D-Link router via Ethernet and turn off their wireless cards. They will resume detecting AX when I turn their wireless connections back on. I have tried every conceivable setting of my D-Link router to no avail.

Stream iPad sound to iMac

I have been trying to connect my iPad to my iMac and stream sound. The sound i want playing on my iMac is from the netflix app and i was wondering if this is possible.

Does your MacBook Pro have a line-in port? Then you could connect the headphone port of the iPad to the line-in of the Mac using an audio cable. If your MacBook Pro is too new to still have a line-in use an audio interface to convert one of the USB ports into an input port. The iMic adapter would be a simple solution.

How do I get music to stream to Apple TV from my macbook air with Mavericks

Just bought a Macbook Air last week.
I am very conversant with Apple TV and Macs. I have two iMacs and stream music from them to Apple TV and it's fine. They are running Lion and Snow Leopard.
My Air is running Mavericks. I open iTunes, enable Home Sharing, but the only airplay icon I can find is at the very top of the window beside the wifi symbol etc.
When I click on that it does MIRROR - I don't want MIrror. But I can't find the usual icon for sharing with Apple TV in iTunes - it's nowhere to be found.
I am just a bit frustrated at this. Can anyone tell me how I can play music from my Air to Apple TV without mirroring it? So frustrating!
Right now I'm streaming it from my iMac but ... what if the only computer I had was the Air? How can I work and stream music to my TV - I like to listen to it on the TV with photos on the screensaver.
Thanks.
Judie

The ability to send music via iTunes is in the upper left corver. On the right of the volume control. When you click on it, it gives you the option of Computer only, Apple TV only or both. Or more if you have more than just the Apple TV to do AirPlay. You can adjust volume differently on each "speaker" too.
Holding option and pressing the mute, volume down or volume up will also give you the option to AirPlay everything on your Mac to the AppleTV. As Tuttle suggested. But that is everything from the Mac, including alerts and such. Where as the iTunes AirPlay will only do the music.
KOT

Optimize iMac to stream

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for