Still can't connect to remote speakers in iTunes (throu AX)

The option to switch around from Computer to Airport Express/remote speakers has disappeared from iTunes. Any ideas?

I had this happen to me on the odd occasion but now have it sorted. If I'm going to use my Airport Epress(s) I first make sure that my PC is connecting to the AE before I even turn on iTunes.
A problem I was having was that my PC was connecting to my wireless router by default (specifically when my laptop was turned off) and not to the AE. As a consequence when iTunes started it greyed out the remote speakers and sometimes the button was not even showing up.
Now that I ensure my PC is talking to the AE everytime I do not have a problem.
I do have one annoying thing with the AE setup though, if I'm playing music over the AE and I unplug any USB device (printer, USB Key, External drive etc) the wireless connection is broken and I have to start iTunes. I suspect it is a hardware issue relating to my particular HP PC as I have just reformatted and reinstalled Windows XP and it still happens. I can live with it.

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Can't connect to airplay speakers from iTunes

I suddenly can't connect to airplay speakers from iTunes on my new Macbook Pro - they are visible but cannot be selected. I can connect to them from other Macs and iPads. Can anyone help, pls? I have set the whole network up several times, rebooted system ie.

I had this happen to me on the odd occasion but now have it sorted. If I'm going to use my Airport Epress(s) I first make sure that my PC is connecting to the AE before I even turn on iTunes.
A problem I was having was that my PC was connecting to my wireless router by default (specifically when my laptop was turned off) and not to the AE. As a consequence when iTunes started it greyed out the remote speakers and sometimes the button was not even showing up.
Now that I ensure my PC is talking to the AE everytime I do not have a problem.
I do have one annoying thing with the AE setup though, if I'm playing music over the AE and I unplug any USB device (printer, USB Key, External drive etc) the wireless connection is broken and I have to start iTunes. I suspect it is a hardware issue relating to my particular HP PC as I have just reformatted and reinstalled Windows XP and it still happens. I can live with it.

ITunes Error -3256 can't connect to remote speakers

iTunes is behaving erratically. I get a -3256 error when the app tries to connect to remote speakers via an AirPort Express.
Restarting iTunes allows me to connect. iTunes then works until my computer goes to sleep. When I wake the computer it hangs with the -3256 error again. Restart iTunes and it negotiates the network connection perfectly.
I ran AirTunes with no problem for years until version 8 of iTunes was released.
I'm running iTunes 8.0.2

I'm having the same problem with my macbook pro (OS 10.5.6, iTunes 8.0.2) but NOT with my imac flatpanel 15". I get "An error occurred while connecting to the remote speaker "Stereo". An unknown error occurred (-3256)." Restarting iTunes does NOT work for me.
My airport is administered by the older imac flatpanel. My girlfriend's computer - an older macbook pro - does NOT have this problem. Has anyone gotten an answer yet on this?
Is this a known bug since so many of us seem to be seeing it?

ITunes can not connect to remote speakers after upgrades

I recently downloaded the new version of iTunes and I am no longer able to connect to my remote speakers. I get a random error message when trying to connect. I've rebooted the airport station and modem. Didn't solve the problem.
Can anyone help? I'm stumped...

I have a MacBook, airport express and appletv. All three were working with airtunes on itunes 7 without issue. Since itunes 8, airport express works great, but the itunes keeps reporting that my appletv speakers are no longer available.
Problem will occur on sleep/wakeup and whenever itunes decides it is angry, even though my appletv is listed on the bar and is syncing. Sometimes it will play for about 10 seconds and then the music stops, but itunes indicates it is still playing. Pause/play will sometimes resolve the issue, but other times will report the appletv speakers have disappeared, but itunes is still listing the apple tv. Rebooting appletv makes no difference.
Workaround has been to restart itunes. For the music stopping after 10 seconds, if restarting itunes results in the same problem, reboot computer. My firewall is disabled, so my opinion .
Also - I love the remote app on my touch, but when play fails due to a speaker error there is no feedback. Instead I get no music and after a delay the icon changes from pause to play again. Of course itunes was complaining about unavailable speakers. Someone should add some intelligence to report such errors to the remote.

Can't connect to remote speakers via AE

I just finished reconfiguring my home network. I believe the Airport Express is happily connected wirelessly to the network (though it doesn't seem to be making the signal to the iPad any stronger) since its light is green and it can be seen on both the iBook (running 10.4.11) and the iMac (running 10.6.8). I use the iBook almost exclusively to play music which is stored on an external HD on a set of external speakers directly connected. iTunes on the iBook is 9.2.1 (5). Re configuring the home wireless network freed the AE to be moved to the home theater setup and I want to play my music on those speakers using airtunes. The AE is plugged into a power strip which it doesn't share, its light is green, an audio cable connects it to the in port on the speakers which the manual indicates is the correct port. The speakers are on, that port is selected. I can see the speakers in the speaker list in iTunes and they are selected. When I select a piece of music, it says connecting to the speakers then says the network connection failed. Can anyone point me to where to look or how to find where the connection failed?

I am also experiencing this. However it is going one device at a time. I have an iMac and macmini close to (cable connected) to a timecapsule. First the iMac showed this (just not accepting connection to express/airport speaker). Then the macmini and now 1 of 2 iPhones. The MacBook air does still connect though. At one point I did see an error message briefly, -100056 I think.
Anyone got any ideas?

ITunes can't connect to remote speakers PLUS Airport Express p/word problem

I am running iTunes 7.4.1 and have previously been able to play iTunes through remote speakers via an Airport Express . After upgrading iTunes some time ago, I am unable to connect to the AE any more. The AE shows as an option in my iTunes window, but when I select it from the drop down option box bottom right, it just doesn't choose it.
I have read other discussions pertaining to this, and have followed all of those solutions, but to no avail.
I have done a hard reset on the AE restoring it's factory settings thinking I should just start again, and it has been renamed "Base Station Oa369f" so I know this has worked, but when I try to reconfigure it through Airport Utility, it asks for a password. I tried it's old password, and also tried the generic one "public" as stated in the AE setup guide, but it rejects both.
I am keen to figure this out as I'm about to buy a new printer and another AE so I can print wirelessly, but don't want to have the same issues if it's an AE bug that can't be fixed, I would be left with no printer!
I know this is two quite separate problems, but if anyone has any ideas for either I would be really grateful.
Thanks very much

I have exactly the same problem which has been driving me nuts for the last couple of days. However I am able to access the dropdown list of speakers. I have mine set to multiple speakers, and now it WILL play through my Airport Express again, but only when playing through the internal speakers at the same time. When I try to play solely through the Airport Express it just hangs.
Come on Apple, you need to be regression testing your upgrades far better than this, for something so basic to go wrong.

After iTunes update, can't connect to remote speakers via Airport Express

I updated to iTunes 10.1.2.17 the other day, and ever since then, I can't connect to my stereo via my Airport Express. I get this message: "An error occurred while trying to connect to the remote speaker 'Airport Express'. The network connection failed."
My Airport Express firmware is up to date and I have not changed any settings since the iTunes update.
Anyone else have/had this problem? Any ideas?

I run Vista and I had the same problem after updating to the latest version of iTunes: Apple TV would indicate "Loading Library" for ever and nothing would happen. This had never happened before.
I tried different tricks like turning on/off home sharing on both iTunes and Apple TV (didn't work), unplugged/plugged Apple TV (didn't work), restore Apple TV (didn't work).
Eventually the solution was actually very simple: go to Firewall settings and make an exception for iTunes. I don't know why that was not necessary before the update, but it made the trick.

Can't always connect to remote speakers since upgrading to lion

In one fell swoop I did a lot of upgrading, and ever since I haven't been able to reliably connect to any remote speakers using iTunes on my iMac. From iTunes (or the Remote app on the phone or iPad) I can see remote speakers, but I cannot connect. From iTunes, I just get the stripy progress bar, and it won't ever go away unless I cancel out. From the remote app, it just becomes unrepsonsive.
Context:
I have a iMac with OSX Lion, that I upgraded from Snow Leopard a few weeks ago. At about the same time, I updated iTunes to 10.5 from the last 10.4 release to be able to get the IOS 5 update on my and my wife's phones.
I have an Airport Extreme connected to our broadband, with 3 airport expresses in various places in our house connected on a wireless network to stereos for remote speakers. The iMac is connected to the Airport Extreme via ethernet. After upgrading the OS and iTunes, I got a notice that there was a firmware update for my two most recent airports (the Extreme and one of the expresses). They are running version 7.6 of the firmware, the other two airports are running 6.3.
There has been no change to the physical environment -- no sources of interference or anything like that. I can play music from the Music app on my phone to any of the remote speakers, there is no problem there.
About half the time, if I restart everything (wireless base stations, and then the computer) I can get the remote speakers to work. However, the next time the computer wakes up from sleep mode, I have the same connection problem described above.
Has anyone else experiences these sorts of troubles? I have seen some similar problems with older versions of all these applications and OS's -- and the solution there was to turn off ipV6 -- however, it doesn't look like that's an option now. Is this an identified bug, and is there a fix on the way? Is there anything I can do in the meantime?

Well, after some experimentation and internet-lookin', I deduced that is possibly a wi-fi problem. It seems that many people are having wi-fi problems since upgrading to Lion, and although I'm not connecting directly to my wireless network, it does form a pretty big chunk of my setup describe above.
So I tried the fix outlined on OSX Daily here: http://osxdaily.com/2011/11/06/lion-wi-fi-problems-solution-mac/
Essentially what it has you do is to create a new network location, name it, and then renew your DHCP lease. This seems to have worked for the time being.

HT4587 I can't locate airport express icon in itunes to connect my remote speakers wirelessly, can anyone help please?

Can anyone help please? I am trying to connect my remote speakers to my i-tunes library using Airport Express. Everything is connected and working using mt OS device (Ipod Touch 5th Generation) that works fine. I have tuned on home sharing and it says in itunes preferences that I am paired but according to the light on the airport express base station I am not connected to my existing wi-fi network. I cannot find the itune airplay icon anywhere in itunes nor can I find the network link by hovering my pointer of the network connections as suggested in the instructions that came with airport express. Would apprecaite some help please you can give. - thank you.

hmmmmm.
i'm not trying to get rid of you here, but it might be worth also checking-in/reposting over at the Airport for Windows forum. when Airtunes things get sticky, i generally defer to iFelix or RJ in WI, and they spend a lot more time over there than they do here.
(traffic is so heavy in here at the moment that this thread might be buried out of sight before an AirTunes guru gets to see you.)
here's a link through to the Airport for Windows forum:
Airport for Windows

ITunes 8: I can no longer connect to remote speakers via Airport Express

Cannot connect to my remote speakers, worked before iTunes 8"
I have restarted the computer, iTunes, QT 7.5.5, run disk utility
I get the following error code (-3256) Apple KB research says:
AirTunes: Error -3256 when streaming to multiple AirPort Express units  You may see this message: An error occurred while connecting to the remote speaker speaker_name . An unknown error occurred (- 3256 ).This occurs with iTunes 6.0.2 or later.SolutionIf you use a third-party firewall or router, make sure that it is configured to permit UDP traffic. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303157
I followed the KB link, tried KB solution, then I sent this off to Apple.
"Mac G5 2.0 Ghz, OS 10.5.4 just installed iTunes 8, one (1) Airport Express connected to remote speakers. Firewall under Sharing in System preferences does not offer firewall access. Firewall is under Security but "Advanced" is grayed out.
Cannot connect to my remote speakers, worked before iTunes 8"
I have restarted the computer, iTunes, QT 7.5.5, run disk utility, unplugged the airport express.
My G4 PowerBook running an earlier version of iTunes connects without problem.

I just got off a 30+ minute phone call with an Apple Support rep about this. I'm getting error -3256. The rep was patient and tried hard to solve the problem, but was basically clueless. I have a case number and was encouraged to call back tomorrow to speak with a product support specialist.
This stinks. AirTunes is my primary way of playing music from my computer. With no obvious way of rolling back to iTunes 7, this is a big deal.

Cannot connect to remote speakers using Airport Express

Yesterday I was able to connect to my hi-fi using remote speakers in iTunes 6.0.4 through my Airport Express (AE) and take full advantage of Front Row, however later in the day the speaker selecton pop-button in iTunes disappeared. I did a hard-reset of the AE unit, shutdown the computer, checked the preferences selection in iTunes etc, all without success. I checked the discussion boards of both iTunes and Airport for a solution. Found something interested where someone said that they shutdown the computer and went to bed and in the morning, hey presto everything was working. He thought that having a good night's sleep was the solution. So, I shutdown the computer and went to bed. The next morning, the light on the AE was green and after booting up my iMac Intel the pop-button reappeared (I still don't know what solved the problem) but now it will not connect to the speakers. It tries but gives us after 30 seconds or so.
Here is what I have done so far: I used Airport setup assistant to set up the AE. During that process I selected to join an existing network that is provided by my Airport Extreme base station and I selected to only use the AE to share a printer and play iTunes using WDS bridging. This process works every time.
Right now, the light on the AE unit is flashing amber. In Airport Admin Utility both the Extreme and the Express are listed but the Extreme has an IP address of the 10.0.x.x variety whereas the Express has an IP address 169.254.x.x variety! Strange. If I double-click on the Express it takes an age to get a response and when the response eventually comes - asking for the password I then get an error saying that "the airport admin utility was unable to read the configuration of the selected base station.
I have tried resetting and repeating the above without success. Therefore, any other ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. I want to boast about Front Row to my Windows friends without the embarrassment of connection problems

I am having almost exactly the same trouble with an Airport network I recently set up in my home. I have a G5 with a brand new Airport card, an Airport Extreme Base Station (also brand new) in the same room acting as my internet portal, and an Airport Express (yup--brand new) downstairs piping iTunes to the stereo.
I could get the G5 and Extreme base to talk without a hitch--they are right next to one another, after all. When I tried to link the Express into the same network, the Express vanishes. When I tried moving it into the same room with the Extreme, I could find it, and play tunes through a set of headphones. Moving to an outlet in the hall outside the room, it still worked. Moved to an outlet on the far wall of the room across the hall, it would play only sporadically, dropping out about 4 seconds out of every six. Anywhere else, and it wouldn't show up at all.
However, when I set up the Express to be a separate network, my G5 was able to access it and play music without difficulty, anywhere in the house. I've been playing iTunes on my stereo for weeks, with the downside that I can't do that and surf the web at the same time.
Last night I tried the experiment of moving the Extreme Base Station around. With my G5 in the living room, in the approximate center of the house (1/2-level above the basement, 1/2-level below the office--it's a split level), I was able to access the Express and play tunes on the stereo as usual. With the Extreme Base downstairs, right next to the Express, my G5 could not even locate its signal. Fifteen feet closer to the center of the house (but still downstairs): couldn't find it. At the base of the stairs: couldn't find it. At the top of the stairs (20 feet from the G5, but just around a corner): couldn't find it. Three feet out into the foyer at the top of the stairs (and now in a direct line of sight to the G5): 20-30% signal. Keep in mind that during all this, I could switch over to the Express network at will (75% signal) and play music downstairs without a hiccup.
It seems to me that there's something wrong with the Extreme Station itself (or at least, with the way it's trying to communicate). If it were external interference due to an outside network, a microwave oven, or a 2.4 GHz cordless telephone, I would expect it to effect both networks equally--but it isn't. The Express seems impervious. I've noticed in another set of posts that some people with wireless connection problems have found that switching from the most recent version of the Extreme Base firmware (5.7) to an older one (5.5.1) has fixed the problem. I plan to give it a shot myself. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Dual 2.5 GHz G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Connecting to remote speakers

Have brand-new MacBook. Was connected to remote speakers. Now connection has vanished from airplay icon pull-down list. Tried connecting twice. No luck. Any suggestions?

Yes, this problem is known since iTunes 9 and Apple does not fix it yet. I am ****** off. I have tried everything, change settings, restart both mac and Airport, change settings of wireless connection, but still iTunes connects to speakers randomly and today I can not connect, I am really ****** off!

ITunes cannot connect to remote speakers / Airport Express

Hi Guys
This is a quick post with a problem & solution.
I've been searching for ages tonight to find a solution to my problem:
'iTunes suddenly cannot connect to my Airport Express Speakers" and could not find one answer on here, only a mixture of replies all over the net.
So, just incase some people are still looking for an answer:
What I did...
1. Go to System Preferences, Network.
2. Click Advanced, on the TCP/IP tab, set "Configure IPv6" to Off.
Open up Airport Utility, go to the Music tab, set a password (I did this just for the sake of seeing whether iTunes noticed that the Airport was now password protected, then atleast you know it's talking!)
3. Open iTunes, go to preferences.
4. Click on the devices tab, untick "Look for remote speakers connected with Airplay, Allow iTunes control from Remote Speakers, Forget All Remotes.
5. Close iTunes
6. Open iTunes, retick "Look for remote speakers connected with Airplay, Allow iTunes control from Remote Speakers, Forget All Remotes.
7. Connect to remote speakers worked!

thanks Simius,
I just tried what you said to do, i had it in Automatic, but when I momenterely switched to manual the fields were all blank so I left them that way and turned on to automatic as you said and left it in auto, then tried to change itunes speaker to remote airplay and it didn t work.
so i don t know what else to do, I read alot about this in the last few days the bug seems to be related to the newest itunes upgrade and with the presence of the IP6V not turned off completely.
in the old system one could turn it off completely, now the off button is gone.
there are work around using terminal, I tried that but it doens t recognize my commands, so it didn t work either.
anybody has any idea?
thansk a lot
D.

Can't find remote speakers with itunes

This just happened randomly. I have Airport Express connected wirelessly to itunes, and then connected to my stereo. I have turned everything off (including AE, iBook, router - everything) and back on. itunes is still set to look for remote speakers, but it just does not see them. Yesterday it was working, today it is not.
PS I tried to download a new copy of itunes, but it will not install
Thanks in advance for your help!

Have you ever been able to see the remote speakers or is this a new problem?
I'm having problems with this as well, but I've been streaming audio to multiple speakers for several days. This morning I noticed that my remote speakers didn't showup in iTunes.
The work around for this appears to be to reset the airport (at least that's worked for me).
If you've seen your remote speakers before, then you might try resetting your airport by unplugging it and then plugging it back in or use the airport admin to update something that won't affect it's operation like the "location" notation.
Mac mini & Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6) three airport express with iTunes

Can not get menu for remote speakers in itunes to come back.

I've been using airport express for many years.
A few months ago my modem went out.
While waiting for a new one to arrive, I still wanted to listen to my music. So I just selected computer speakers from the drop down in lower right corner of itunes.
The menu immediately disappeared when I selected computer speakers.
When I set up the new modem, the drop down did not reappear.
Tried a bunch of things. Read a bunch of older forums. Nothing.
It's been months. I need my music and I'm back at it again!
Today (in this order) I:
Reset my macbookpro (option apple p r)
reset airport express (held in reset while plugged in, waited for flashes)
set up airport express from scratch. Named it. All seems well.
light is green
Made sure find remote speakers from itunes pref was checked. (unchecked and checked it again)
Made sure itunes music sharing was checked from my firewall settings. (unchecked and checked it again)
Restarted itunes (a few times)
Nothing. Nothing . Nothing.
Airfoil says that if itunes can't find remote speakers, then neither will airfoil.
So I won't try downloading that as a fix...
PLEASE!? ANYONE!?
Yes my wires are checked.

I have pretty much the same problem.
I just set up a new Belkin Wireless N router, to replace my G and hopefully speed up my network, but now I've lost my Airport Express. It's still hooked up to my stereo, but the light is amber now and won't turn green.
Also, my iTunes can't find my remote speakers, and I can't even get the menu which used to have Computer and Living Room on it.
How can I get my iTunes to find that little Airport Express dude?

Still can't connect to remote speakers in iTunes (throu AX)

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